Pine fireplace built-ins, from glue-up to install

I installed these pine fireplace built-ins on Friday. This was a good, fun job. I enjoyed figuring out how to make everything fit together and keep the finished work simple.

All the visible fronts are solid pine, stained to match the existing pine behind them. Stain matching can be a pain, and getting this one to belong in the room took some work.

The long shelves are plywood with solid pine stiffeners glued along both the front and back. They’re 50 inches long, but once installed they sat straight with no visible sag. There’s a lot of strength in a fairly minimal-looking shelf.

The fitting had to be precise. The plywood fit into the dados, and the solid wood didn’t, so everything needed to line up cleanly through the glue-ups. The only screws were used to attach the cabinets to the wall.

After the stain matching and careful fitting, it was satisfying to see it all come together. The install went great.