These IKEA cube shelves stick out too much.  Shallow shelves are needed to use that space for storage, but not take up any extra space in the room.

Cut a bunch of wood like this.

Glue it together like this.

Clamp it.

Putty any cracks, sand the whole thing, and apply the polyurethane.

Drips are the worst.  Horizontal surfaces minimize drips, so for something like this, I did the outer surface of one side and the inner surface of the other side.  Let it dry for a couple of hours.  The surface can be tacky, but not wet.

Turn the piece 90 degrees.  In this case, the piece was turned upright, so polyurethane could be applied to the top and the shelves.  In a couple of hours, when that’s tacky, turn it back to give a second coat to the sides.  In this manner, two coats can go on the top and sides. 

If the piece is thought of as a cube, there are six faces.  Pushing it, three faces can get two coats or two faces can get three coats.  It takes a a few days to finish, but only a couple of hours actual work per day.

The polyurethane should cure for a day before sanding, and applying a finish coat.

Since the back, side and top of each piece aren’t visible, I could skimp on the finish coats of those.

There aren’t any photos of cutting the shelves because that happened when I had no phone at all.

I’d like cabinet doors, but haven’t figured out how to make them without taking too much of the already small interior space. 

This project is already taking more time than it’s worth.  I can add doors later if I figure it out and still want them.