DIY Small Kid’s Book Holder

Sometimes the most fun projects come out of necessity, and this book holder was one of those projects! Since we are renting a small unfurnished apartment for the summer and only brought what we could fit in our two cars, we were picky about what we packed.

Since being here and getting settled, my kid’s books started to end up all over the house. We didn’t bring any shelves, or very many storage solutions for that matter, so we have been creative with tidying our things.

I had some scrap wood left over from a few projects, so I quickly came up with a little project that could help our book problem! We really have two book problems: 1. We have way too many books and 2. There isn’t a place to store them.

To make your own shelf, use the plans below! You can very easily adjust the length of this shelf, and I think it would be a great bookshelf to put on a nightstand, if you made it a little smaller.

Happy building!

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What you’ll need:

Materials/Cutlist:

Lumber:

• (1) 2 x 4 x 24”
• (2) 2 x 4 x 4 ¼ ”
• (1) 1 x 6 x 24”
• (1) 1 x 2 x 24”
• (2) .5 x .75 x 24”

Other Materials:

• (10) 2” wood screws
• Sandpaper
• Paint/Stain
• Polycrylic
• Wood glue

Tools Used:

• Hand saw and miter box or Miter saw
• Clamps
• Orbital sander
• Drill

Step 1: Cut your wood

• Using the list under “Lumber” at the beginning of this tutorial, cut your wood to the lengths you will need. Since I used scrap wood, I had pieces lying around that were much shorter than the boards you would buy in the store.
• I also used my hand saw and miter box to cut my wood, which is not the norm for most people, so go ahead and whip out that miter saw!

Step 2: Attach the back to the shelf

• The back part of this project is the 1 x 6 x 24”
• Attach it to the shelf, which is the 2 x 4 x 24” by gluing and then predrilling (here’s the drill I use) and screwing three 2” wood screws across the bottom of the 1 x 6 to the edge of the 2 x 4 (see picture below)

Step 3: Screw the front ledge to the shelf

• Going through the bottom of the 2 x 4, glue, predrill, and screw the 1 x 2 x 24” on the top edge of the 2 x 4. Screw on the outside edges, and one in the middle, making 3 screws used. The pictures below will show you how to put it together!

Step 4: Attach the feet

• Using your drill, wood glue, and two screws for each foot, attach the 2 x 4 x 4 ¼” pieces on either end of the bottom of the book holder.

Step 5: Glue the trim on

• The .5 x .75 x 24” pieces will be used on the top of the back piece, and the top of the front ledge.
• Attach them with wood glue and clamps. This helps to just make the shelf a little taller so that the taller books won’t be falling off the back of the holder. If you do a lot of projects with wood, I would recommend this GluBot to make gluing from all different angles easier.

 Step 6: Sand and finish

• Sand your piece down with your choice of sander. I love my orbital sander and use it for every project!
• I decided to paint this book holder white, and used this white spray paint (see picture below). You can find it at any home improvement store or department store.
• Once the paint is dry, protect your book holder with your choice of finish. Polycrylic is great, especially when you’re using a light color of paint or stain because it won’t put a yellow tint on your piece.

That’s it! See, fast and easy.

Congrats on making this book holder! I love how fast of a project it was, and it has been working! My kids have been great about putting the books on the shelf and they can easily find the ones they want.

Let me know if you build this shelf to fit your needs- I’d love to see it!

With love,

-Whitney

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