As part of my redecorating frenzy, I'm thinking about getting new bookcases. My old ones are *very* old, oak stained some "golden" color, and the shelves are kind of bowing. They're 86" high. There are three of them, but they don't all fit together on the wall in my foyer (they were originally supposed to go in the living room, but I didn't like them there), so one of them is in my dinette/office.

I'm thinking of replacing them with a set of three to go in the foyer - two that are about 30-32" in width with a narrower one in the middle - 16-21". I would put some knick-knacks as well as books in the narrower one.

I saw some bookcases in The Door Store (assembly required). They look very nice, and the prices are pretty decent - it would be about $1200 for the three. They would come in 30"-21"-30". They come in cherry or teak veneer, probably over particleboard (I kind of like the color of the teak).

Then I saw that Room & Board has "custom" width bookcases now. So I could do something like 30"-16"-30", or save a bit of money and get the stock 32"'s for 32"-16"-32". This would be about $800-1000 more than The Door Store, and I'd probably go with cherry since the other choices are either too light (maple) or too dark (walnut - also much more expensive). This would be cherry veneer over cherry solids.

SO - anyone have any experience with the quality of The Door Store bookcases and/or Room & Board's stuff? Or what would be better - veneer over particleboard vs. veneer over wood? Or teak vs. cherry? (Assume my living room/foyer/dinette will end up with a mix of woods by the time I'm done...)

Any and all advice appreciated!