History is a way to travel back in time, a way to understand the past and apply it to the present and future.
And when we talk about history in terms of DIY projects, it's always about taking something old and antique and making it fresh and new again, like this old sleigh that was transformed into a shiny new lounge chair.
But sometimes, instead of fixing something from the past, we can take inspiration from the past to make something new. I think that can be even more magical.
When this dad DIY-er learned about special bookshelves Thomas Jefferson made in the 1700s, he decided to follow Jefferson's nearly-300-years-old instructions to make bookshelves for his son's bedroom.
Scroll through the photos to learn what makes these bookshelves so special, and how this dad put them together himself!
Do you love history? Let us know in the comments, and please SHARE!
In the 1700s, books were expensive — and, unfortunately, household disasters like fires and floods were very common. Because of this, founding father Thomas Jefferson wanted a way to easily transport his pricey books in case of an emergency.
That's why Jefferson designed stackable bookshelves to be installed at his home at Monticello. Each row of books was its own shelf, easy to unstack and transport.
This special transportation technique made it possible to move his priceless library from Monticello to Washington, D.C., thus laying the foundation for the Library of Congress.
The original design for the bookshelf is still kept on record at Monticello — and now, thanks to one dad, this clever design has been digitalized and brought back to life!
Inspired by this design, this dad decided to build his own set of Jefferson book boxes.
He bought sheets of pine plywood to create the shelves.
Using the original dimensions, he cut the plywood into different sizes for the sides, tops and bottoms of the boxes.
Using the table saw, he carefully cut jig joints into the sides of the wood.
The "dovetails" on the ends of the board allowed them to fit together to create the box shape.
Grandpa helped out to sand down the jig joints to make sure that they would fit snuggly.
When fitted together, the jig joints created a perfect angle for the pine boxes.
To finish the wood, he used shellac because it is environmentally friendly and waterproof, which is perfect for a child's bedroom.
To make the edges a darker color, he burned them with a blowtorch and sealed the color with shellac.
For the final assembly, he hammered the joints into place with a rubber mallet.
He then drilled the bottoms of the boxes into place.
Finally, time to stack the boxes to create a bookshelf!
Because they are stackable and feature handles, the bookshelf and its contents are easy to move around.
Now his son has an interesting and useful part of history in his room, inspired by our third president of the United States!
We love this dad's way of incorporating American history into his son's bedroom furniture!
Let us know what you think in the comments below, and please SHARE if you love historical DIYs!
