Disclaimer: This is a long post. With a lot of pictures. I venture to say it’s taking me longer to get this post around than it was to actually do the project. With the cabinet finally finished, I realized that my daughter really needed some more room for her books. I didn’t want to fill that pretty thing with all books, so I had to come up with something.
So here’s the something.
I will admit that it’s the first project involving wood/nails/labor that I’ve done completely by myself. Needless to say, I was a little apprehensive, but it turned out better than I expected.
As the books were being placed on the shelves, my little one kept saying, “Hey! I forgot about that book!” “Oooh, I wanna read that one!” Mission. Accomplished.
How about a tutorial for this oh-so-easy project? The first stop was to Lowes for some primed MDF strips. I spent more money with the primed version; However, I know you could do this for less money. I knew I’d be painting it light, so I didn’t want to worry about priming it. Worth the money, really.
I drew a small bead of wood glue along the edges to be nailed and held it for a few seconds. It offered some support and kept things from shifting while I was nailing them together.
I knew I wanted three shelves, and they measured out around 27” each. This meant I needed an 8 foot piece of each. I took the three pieces up to the wood-cutter guy (official name) at Lowes and had him cut them. Yeehaw! How easy is that?
After painting them (including the exposed edges), my husband screwed them into some studs on the wall. I didn’t bother hiding the screws. Who’s gonna see them?
Because the beauty of this project is really in the color of the books, I wanted the shelves to be as simple and streamlined as possible. Luckily, that was also the easiest to build.
And of course, it wouldn’t be a success unless this goofball liked them. I think she approves.
Supply breakdown:
- 8 feet, 1×6 (three shelves at @ 27” each)
- 8 feet 1×4
- 8 feet 1×2…………………………….Total of $28.00
- Wood Glue $2.97
- Nails/nail gun, paint—already had
Jessica says
ha! Love your daughter's picture!
Stella & Dot, Independet Stylist says
Love it! Nice to see you using a nail gun because to me…those seem intimidating!
- Brittany says
Love those shelves! They are so simple and clean looking. Thanks for sharing.
Brittany (aka Pretty Handy Girl)
Chelsy@ Sweet Pea Kisses says
I have the wood downstairs to make some shelves just like this! I'm so glad to hear how easy it was from you. I'm making some for books in my sons room and also for DVDs in the family room!
P.S. "If you take a mouse to school" is one of my favs!
Bec@littlelucylu says
We (well, mostly my husband) is in the process of making some shelves just like this for my daughter's playroom!
I LOVE the way they turned out!!!
AWESOME!
~Bec 🙂
Centsational Girl says
I loooooove these Chris, they are perfect for this space, how cool that you built them yourself, great tutorial, bravo girl!!!!
xoxo
Kate
Letti says
love it!!!!
Kara @ Mine for the Making says
Love these shelves Chris! And for the cost…even better! Shelves can be so pricey! I love how the book covers are visible too! Nice job 🙂
Cap Creations says
Great job! Love that last photo of your girl!
Did you get my email about the giveaway?
RNSANE says
Having raised three SONS to adulthood, I am so envious of your delightful daughter. What a great job you did on the bookshelves. She should be quite proud of her room!
Marianne@Songbird says
That is one impressive nail gun. I still have to use a hammer and nails (my poor thumbs). I guess that's why I try to avoid nailing something together like the plague.
But your cute little shelves might just have convinced me otherwise.
Great project. And hooray for your girl loving the books again.
Jenny says
Nicely done! I need a solution like this for my daughter's room and I love how easy and functional this is! And the fact that it doesn't take up floor space is a major bonus. 🙂
Jodi says
Love it! Great tutorial as well. Your daughter is gorgeous and looks like she is so much fun!
Speckled Lamb says
They are lovely 😉 Thanks for sharing the how to!
Lissa
Lisa says
I love the simple lines of the shelves and that picture of your daughter is the cutest!!!
Kathy C. says
What a simple and great project! Love the model haha. 🙂 Great job!!
Janell @ House of Fifty says
Fabulous, functional and how pretty do all these books look on your new shelves! Great job! Janell
To The Moon and Back says
love it!
Becky says
Love this! About to work on a project and need thinner types shelving for my sons books and this works perfect, thanks for sharing!
Colleen says
the picture of your daughter is priceless! love this project.
Bossy Betty says
Adorable–both the project AND the model!
courtney says
love these. and the books even look great against the blue wall!
Mindy@FindingSilverLinings says
Great job!!! I agree with you on buying it primed. One less thing right?! Your daughter is awesome for posing!
xo
Mindy
Screaming Meme says
I want some now…thanks for adding more to dos to my to do list! lol
If you get the chance come see my before and after…
http://thescreamingmeme.blogspot.com/2011/05/lets-have-garden-party.html
Danielle (Life with the Hewitt Family) says
I LOVE it! I am going to have to make some of these too!
Jocelyn says
Those look great! I've seen this sort of thing before and will love doing it with my millions of kids books!
Heather@The Black's Best says
What a great idea! I think I need to try this in my kids room…your daughter is adorable too!
kayla says
Turned out great and very functional!!
Conspicuous Style Design Blog says
Great job! I love that the children can see all of the books, too…makes them more enticing I think!
-Stacy
Michelle says
Thanks so much, Chris! Your post was particularly timely for me, as I was planning to make some similar shelves from ana white's site but was going to need to borrow a jigsaw from the tool library to do it. These are a little different than what I had in mind but so much simpler that I'm going for it. Thanks again!!
Lisa says
These are great! Thanks so much for the detailed tute. I've been thinking about making something like this for the nursery.
Janice Fiori says
Great Job!! I just saved the info as I hope to accomplish the same.
Jen@GarageSaleDiaries says
oh wow! i love your blog! and I just realized I am your 5000th follower!!!
Anonymous says
I love them! Thanks for sharing and providing the information to make them. I have a slight addiction to books…and am in desperate need of a way to rotate through them all. Perfect solution:o)
-Mollie
Winks and Daisies says
I love these shelves. Sweet, simple and just perfect. Thanks for sharing!
hometown girl says
very cute! we could use some of those! hope all is well! susan
Katherines Corner says
Looks great. Anything that encourages reading get s a smiley face from me.Hugs.
P.S. I have your lovely blog on my cottages page at Katherines Corner 🙂
Heather @ REOlisticRenovation says
These are so cute! I totally need something like this. Cute picture of your daughter too. 🙂
Blissful Babe says
The photo of your daughter is just priceless! What a beautiful girl! And these shelves are fantastic! Sure wish I had a nail gun!! Thanks for the tutorial!
The Fifield Kail Family! says
This is so awesome! I can't wait to do this in my sons room it'll be so cool Thanks for all the great ideas. Have you seen Hallmarks new children's book there really good books. I went there today for the first time since December and they have a book corner and probley 50 books or so, we bought Watson the interactive squirrel and pip the monster they were outstanding. =)
Alex says
wonderful simple but a great WOW! impact! Love it and your daughter is super cute too!
Alex
http://www.youhadmeatcraft.com/
Jennifer says
Those are great! I love how those shelves show off the covers of the books, which can be so cool. It's like free art. You don't get to see the covers with traditional bookshelves!
Robin {keephomesimple} says
Chris,
I LOVE these bookshelves you made! I featured them on my blog. You can see the link Here: http://keephomesimple.blogspot.com/2011/05/budget-friendly-inspiration.html
BTW, I've spent so many hours this weekend looking through your blog. I think it's my new favorite. Thanks for being so inspiring. Have a great week!
~Robin {Keep Home Simple}
Barb says
What a great job Chris. I am beyond proud of you and all the wonderful things you do for your family. Olivia looks VERY pleased. What a good picture of her.Loved your flash gaget for your camera. What a difference in the pictures. Great buy. Love you very much!! Mom
Amanda Kuzak says
What a great project, you make it look so easy! I love the photo of your daughter in the end, I agree with her, 2 thumbs up!
Tara says
These looks amazing. Great good! I just pinned it to share with my friends.
Laurie says
I absolutely love this idea! I have been looking for a very narrow bookshelf for my son’s room and this idea is so much better. I’ll put my husband to work on it immediately!
Chris says
Sounds like a great idea, Laurie! 🙂
Rachael says
These book shelves look so nice, I made my daughter 3 of them for her room, super easy and they came out absolutely beautiful.
Kelsey says
Hi I’m Kelsey (mama mazzone)
A new follower.
Love your blog and all of your design ideas!
These shelves look great! Thanks for sharing, I would love to do something like this in my girls bedrooms.
Vanessa says
I’ve been looking for easy bookshelf ideas and I think I found it! Thanks for sharing this idea!
The Southern Product Queen says
Such a cute idea, and love your blog! I would love it if you would link this up at my linky party as well! Here is the link http://www.thesouthernproductqueen.com/one-stop-shoppe-linky-party Happy New Year!
Alida says
Love the simplicity of these shelves! I just got a nail gun for Christmas and these are now on my to build list.
I would love to invite you to share this at my party going on now… http://radcrafter.com/2012/01/thingamajig-thursday-party-9/
Alida
Lindsi B says
This is fabulous!!! Would you please share this with our readers for Fun Stuff Fridays? http://www.toysinthedryer.com/2012/01/fun-stuff-fridays-5.html
Michelle says
I love your selves, they turned out great. I just wanted to share that some of the school teachers in the district I work for use rain gutters for book selves, which works well too. 🙂
Melanievp says
Great Idea!!
I am a new follower
I am redoing my son’s room and this will give me extra room space. Now I can get rid of the book shelves. I going to share this idea with my cousin who has a 4yr old boy. I know she will love this idea.
Thanks for sharing your idea
Chris says
Thank you, Melanie! I’m glad it could inspire. We all need some of that! Good luck!
Tracy says
Just curious as to how you attached the front shelf. Did you use finishing nails and then cover them or just glue? I see that the back piece is nailed to the bottom but didn’t see how you attached the front. Thanks!!! Hoping to make them this weekend for my nursery!!
momoftwo says
Love those shelves! I’ve been really bummed about how to fit everything in my sons’ room…They are sharing right now and most days I’m overwhelmed with how to fit all their stuff in one room AND make it look good. This post has given me the inspiration I needed to get their stuff in order 🙂 Thanks so much!
Nancy H says
Are nail guns expensive? Couldn’t I just hammer these together?
Chris says
Oh yeah. You could certainly just nail them. No nail gun required! I got my gun for Christmas. I believe it was @ $150?
frank says
I like this idea, its simple yet it looks great. I understand you used wood glue, have you experienced any issues with them? (ie. over time, due to the weight of books the shelves fell apart)
Hannah says
I love these shelves and I really want to make them before I move into my new apartment next weekend. I’ll have to use a hammer and nails because I don’t have a nail gun but I don’t see in the pictures where you attached the pieces together? Are the nails visible in front? I’m not too experienced with these types of DIY projects but I would love some advice if you have it! Thanks!
Felicity says
I love these shelves because they provide great storage while letting you see all the books. We are always forgetting what great books are lying around and this makes it so much more fun.
Christy says
I am doing this project this week!! I love it!! Thank you so much for sharing!!
Can you tell me, where did you find your super soft green bean bag chair? I’m having the hardest time finding one at a reasonable price.
Meridith says
I just found your blog and am in love… I even let the kids drag out the bounce house so I can read back posts.
My big question is how your husband screwed these into the studs? I don’t understand, and my ikea spice rack book racks are held up with L-brackets that my 1 year keeps trying to rip off the wall. It’s time for me to do something new and I love these!
Kendra says
Love! Did you use nails for the front lip as well or did you just do wood glue?
Jessica says
You can do the same thing with the photo frame shelves at IKEA. They have black or white ones in two different lenghts for $9-$14. The front lip isn’t as tall though on those.