International Concepts, Shaker Bookcase 36″ H Solid Sturdy Real Parawood Furniture, Eco-Friendly, Three Adjustable Shelves, 36 Inch, Unfinished

I LOVE IT!!!!
I would buy this again and may do so in the near future. I got the unfinished bookshelf, and it is absolutely beautiful! It is solid wood and very sturdy. The bookshelf was very easy to put together, however, like what some of the other’s said in their reviews, the back took a little more work. They provide screws to attach the thin plywood to the back, but the wood is so hard and dense that you really need to drill little holes in it first. Doing that, made it go fast and easy! I just love it! Well worth the money spent! Oh, I was going to paint or stain it, but I haven’t done anything just yet, because it’s so pretty as is!

Worth The Money
This is a cleverly designed, solid wood bookcase that is well worth the money, especially when you compare it to fully-assembled bookcases of alder or pine from your local “nude” furniture outlets. The weak point in bookcases that require assembly has always been the back of the unit, and the use of flimsy, thin particle board or wood veneers that have a strong tendency to warp. I totally avoided this issue by not installing ANY of the backing whatsoever. My reasoning is that when I fill the shelves with books, you can’t even SEE the back of the bookcase! It sure made the assembly a lot easier, and there is no structural integrity provided by the veneer backing. BTW, the parawood is quite handsome and has a very pleasant wood aroma. P.S. – I forgot to add that when I unpacked the box containing all the wood pieces, I was very upset to see that there were NO hardware items (screws, bolts, etc.) enclosed! After going online to Amazon to see if I could have someone send me the needed hardware, and never finding ANY link to International Concepts, and after going through all the box contents with a fine-tooth comb, I finally see a red nylon cord taped to the OUTSIDE of the shipping box attached to a small plastic bag containing, you guessed it, all the needed hardware!. Why on earth IC would ship the hardware on the OUTSIDE of the box attached by a nylon cord, I have NO clue!

Very nice parawood table, they’ve made the 3 panel back 1 panel and ours will look great when the finishing is completed.
17 years ago I bought 4 chairs, an end table and a phone table from Lowe’s made our of Parawood. We finished them with Minwax Wipe On Poly and we’re still using them to this day. They’ve held up very nearly as well as our oak bedroom suite. Unfortunately, Lowe’s quit carrying them shortly after our purchase and we just bought the shortest bookcase from Amazon ourselves. The book case was as easy to assemble as the furniture from 17 years ago and just as nice. A couple comments that should be worthwhile to the newest purchasers: 1. These are not perfect and have a few defects. They’re made of wood and are handmade for the most part. Also, while they’ve been sanded, they do have some glue spots you will need to sand out with some 150 to 180 grit sandpaper BEFORE finishing, as these spots will not take finish. This is not an arduous task, but does take some patience, so if you’re looking to assemble and throw some finish on, you may be disappointed. 3. I completed assembly of our shelving unit two days ago, so I have a recent unit. They now come with the back as a single, solid piece though you still have to use a drill to provide screw holes for the backing support brackets. Again, not that hard to do. 4. Finally, these are for “do it yourselfer’s” and I’d rate them at the 2 to 3 difficulty level. Not that hard, just take a little patience. Remember, they are wood, they are solid and they have natural wood’s natural flaws, part of what makes them interesting in my book. Just take your time, correct the minor flaws, handle the quirks and be patient with the sanding and finishing – you’ll be glad you did. Don’t forget that there’s a lot of information on the web, make use of that if you need when refinishing these.