Build Your Own Bookshelves
Hidee friends!! Today, I’m happy to share some progress that we have made on the closet reading nook we are designing for our daughter. I found a way to make these easy wooden picture ledges that also make great bookshelves for children. And the best part, they cost me less than $20 for all them! Cheap Cheap!! 🙂
Don’t you want to make a few of these? You could use them for picture ledges (ummm, I think that’s what they are really called) or bookshelves like you see here. Or just display whatever strikes your fancy!
And let me just say that after we installed these shelves our daughter loves this space. LOVES it! We went from reading one or two books a night (if we are lucky) to four or five!! That’s a good thing, right?? Even if I’m the one struggling to stay awake. 😉
Ready to build your own bookshelves?? C’mon, we’ll do it together. Here’s what we need from our helpful hardware store:
2 – 8ft. 1 x 4 pine boards
1 – 8ft. 1 x 2 pine boardswhite primer (I used what I already had)
white Spray Paint – Satin Finish
And of course your favorite drill, a good hammer (or nail gun), and brad nails or finishing nails
I don’t have a saw at home (what!? What kinda DIY girl doesn’t have a saw? shame on me.) so let’s have one of the helpful worker’s at Lowe’s cut these down to size for us. You’ll want to be sure to measure you space for the size you need. For the reading nook wall, I had each piece cut into 22″. That gave me enough to make the four wooden bookshelves.
What is up with that dirty garage floor?
Now, let’s take one of the 1x 4’s and nail it to another 1 x 4 like this:
Good! Next, let’s take one of the 1 x 2’s and nail it to the front of our shelf like this to make the front ledge:
Beautiful! See how easy it is to make these bookshelves? You are ready to paint, but first use your wood putty to fill any cracks or holes where we nailed these together. Then sand down all the rough edges a little bit to make it nice and smoooooth. 🙂
I put one thin coat of primer on the bookshelves by just brushing it on quickly. Then I used Rustoleum’s Paint and Primer in One in white satin finish. It’s my favorite spray paint!
Rainy day picture alert!! Just my luck that it started sprinkling once I got two coats on. Oh well, we just moved the project back inside the garage and put on another coat of paint!
Once these are dry, mark your holes where you want to hang them. Drill two holes in the back of each shelf to hang. I drilled pilot holes in my wall, but if you use self-drilling sheet rock anchors you can skip that step. I just like using power tools, so it was a good excuse. And by the way, I bought the heavy duty anchors that hold like 75 pounds each. You know, just in case my toddler tries to climb these or something crazy like that!! BAH!
That’s all there is to folks! Add your books and settle in for a little story time with your sweet little tot! I’m so excited to have these bookshelves in! I still have lots to do in this closet reading nook, but we are well on our way to marking off one of my New Year Goals for 2013!
Let’s take a look at the before picture:
And now let’s see where we spend almost every night before bedtime! 😉
We also added some trim around that small window. Did ya notice?? That’s another tutorial in the making. 😉
Next up for this reading nook is a long list of accessorizing and decorating! Window treatments, wall decorations, organizing, the works and then the big reveal will be ready!! You can check out some of my inspiration here and here. Until then, you can find me in here with the “Farm Faces” book probably making chicken and pig noises for a giggling little girl! 😉
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5 comments on “Build Your Own Bookshelves”
Kimber
Forget the kids. I want these for myself! Going in my bathroom1 Thanks!
Ellora
What a great idea! Love it! Thank you Kimber!!
Claduine
How adorable they turned out! And custom made for your space!!!
XOXO Claudine
roeshel
Love them! Such a cute way to display reading material! Most adorable little reading nook I’ve ever seen…such a great place to snuggle up!
the cape on the corner
what a great space for reading! and good job on the shelves.