Corner shelves present an interesting exercise in wood bending. Steam bending is best done with air dried lumber, since kiln drying makes the wood fibers brittle. I didn’t have access to air dried oak, so I used a lamination technique.

The basic frame consisted of two pieces of oak plywood, jointed at the rear at 90 degrees with a glued rabbet. The additional plywood pieces at the base just elevate the bottom shelf an additional 5 inches above the floor.

I made a solid base to add weight at the bottom of the piece and make it more stable.
I laminated alternating layers of plywood and 2x lumber to build up the solid base.
A compass made from a piece of string, was used to scribe the arc, which I then cut out on the bandsaw and sanded smooth with a spindle sander.
The bottom-most section was constructed of solid oak segments, glued to the solid base. I did this to further extend the base, and to keep the curved laminate shelf facing from becoming too wide.

To bend the three one-eighth laminations, I constructed a bending form from two 2×12 layers – glued and screwed together, then cut on the bandsaw and sanded. The outside curve waste becomes the outer section of the form. A 2 inch hole drilled through the inside section of the form provides a camping point.
I glued the three laminations together with titebond III.
Solid clamping blocks were used at the ends to extend the clamping surface and keep the laminations square. I left the the clamps on overnight.

There was some spring-back after removing the bent lamination from the bending form. Clamps were again used to glue the lamination to the front face of the shelf. Start clamping from the center and move towards each end. A v-block was made to provide a flat clamping surface at the rear of the shelf.

Here is what the completed base looked like after filling in-between the oak blocks at the bottom, and adding the bent lamination above it.
After the glue dried, the ends of the bent lamination were cut flush with the back of the plywood sides.

Quarter inch thick oak strips were glued to the plywood edges between the shelves.
I applied Watco Light Oak Danish Oil to the project after sanding to 220 grit.

The area next to the front door can be chaotic, especially with young kids. Here is Bekah’s solution.

I started by gluing up 8 foot sections of white fir. The boards were too long for my 4 inch jointer, so I hand planed the edges with my Bailey #7.

Three 2x8s were joined with 3/8 inch dowels and clamped. The 8 foot length was later cut in half for the bottom and top of the bench.

It’s tough to find perfectly flat 2×8 construction lumber. So after the glue dried overnight, a bit of flatening was required. The glue-up was too wide for my planer, so my Bailey #5 did the trick. I used an 18 inch steel rule on edge to gauge flatness. The final thickness was 1-1/8 inches.

Dados were cut into the sides and horizontal sections to hold dividers. The tenons were adjusted with a rabbet plane for a good fit. Here the pieces are being dry-fit before glue-up. Shoulder tenons were used on the horizontal pieces to hide any joinery errors.

Here is the actual glue-up of the sides. Notice the clamping cauls and the pipe clamp extensions . Diagonal measurements were made to ensure squareness. Because of the number of joints, the glue-up was done in two stages.

Here is the second glue-up where the top is attached. The dados in the top were cut the full length. You can see the small pieces glued into the front portion of the data where the top overhangs the base. The screw clamps are holding a 2-1/2 board that closes off the empty area under the bottom section of cubbies. This is so mom doesn’t have to search for errant articles underneath the bench.

The upper section of the piece was made much the same as the bench below. It’s purpose is to provide hooks for coats and backpacks, as well as baskets for hats and gloves.

The back pieces were tongue and grooved to allow for across the grain wood movement. They also provide the structure for the hooks, and for hanging the piece on the wall. The tongue and groove boards reside in a rabbet cut into the sides.

Levi hanging out on the bench. Dimensions are 17 inches tall, 48 wide and 16 deep.