How to build your own Tetris bookshelves with Leroy Merlin

Alexey Pajitnov is the most famous game inventor you’ve never heard of. The Soviet software engineer created Tetris in 1985 fuelling a decades-long love-affair for millions of people who play the puzzle-solving game.

Not only is it one of the greatest games ever sold, but it is a cultural icon. Years ago I saw the first Tetris shelves, which were designed to hold CDs. That’s how long ago the concept has been kicking around and I’ve always loved the idea.

My late father was very dexterous and taught me a range of woodworking and other handyman-esque skills. During Covid, with nobody to play with, I used an old front door and leftover wood from a kitchen renovation to build my son (then three years old and obsessed with firemen) his own fire engine.

Playing Tetris

I loved that project and was looking for something else to do with him when I remembered these Tetris shelves. I thought they would be great to display his Lego collection in his playroom.

But building a bookshelf that resembles the iconic Tetris game is a lot harder than it first seemed. Also, I don’t own a circular saw or any of the equipment to cut wooden boards to size. But this is where a full-service store like Leroy Merlin comes in.

As much as I want to make the shelves, realistically I know I don’t have the time, nor focus, to do all the cutting and painting myself. I wanted to do the fun stuff with my son, which is mostly assembling and painting, without having to worry about tedious cutting to size.

I often joke that I am a “high-functioning lazy person” and I’m sure I am not the only father like this.

Luckily, Leroy Merlin has a woodwork workshop and a paint section that cut a large Superwood board into the right sizes and provided the various paint colours we needed.

There are five shapes but seven colours (the S and L shapes are reversed). You’ll need a litre of each colour and a few litres of white undercoat. We used water-based paints. The colours are:

Square – yellow
S – red, green
T – purple
Line – pale blue
L – orange, dark blue

It’s worth remembering Tetris in all its 8-bit glory, in the image to the right. But it also shows you how simple – and square – the shapes themselves are.

We created a working document to cut the shelves, which Leroy Merlin turned into much more specific technical drawings.

Leroy Merlin shopping list

Wood, as per the cutting list above.
Yellow, red, green, purple, pale blue, orange, and dark blue paint, suitable for applying on your chosen medium.
Primer

Other equipment you will need

A drill, 30 x 40mm screws, Polyfiller, paint brushes and rollers, sandpaper, and wood filler.