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1/13/2009

Creative Book Storage

We have a TON of books in our house. My kids love books. My husband loves books. I have books from when I was a child. We have books from Grandpa Jim's book collection.
Unfortunately we do not have wall to wall bookshelves.

I use this idea to store books in the girls room.

image from Pottery Barn

They do have a bookshelf in their room, but too many books. Using storage baskets (these are from Pottery Barn, mine are not this cute) on the bookshelf allows you to store more books in the space provided. It also works really well for books that are too big to stand up on the shelf.

Here is an idea that a neighbor of mine uses. (Although this isn't her house...she has this in her girls room)

image from lagomorph

You can use rain gutters to make an inexpensive book display. This works really well if you have wall space that isn't deep enough for a book shelf (like where a door would open). Not only do the books get a home, but you can see all of their cute little covers!

What ideas do you use in your home for books?

18 comments:

Katie said...

Cute, cute, cute raingutter idea. Of course, considering my childrens' habits, I could only do it if the books were nailed down.

PS - I voted for you a couple of times. Is that dishonest?

Lorie said...

There will come a day...like 20 years from now...when they might pick up after themselves! ;D

Maybe your boy will be better. My boy is the neatest one of my three!

And as for the votes, you are too cute! There weren't any rules that said you couldn't, so I think you are good! (and I will slip you some chocolate later!!)

kelly said...

i LOVE that long bookshelf. I've always wanted a superlong desk, similar to the bookshelf idea, in a craft room. all that space would be wonderful!

Diane said...

love the rain gutter idea! super cool!
we go thru our books once a year and donate as many as possible. we are sentimental about our books tho, so it's hard!

Kristina P. said...

That rain gutter idea is awesome!!

Unknown said...

Rain gutters--I love it!!

Live.Love.Eat said...

Oh, I LOVE those little shelves!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jen @ tatertotsandjello.com said...

Cute book storage ideas. I am in real need of them. We have four voracious readers and our house feels like it is overflowing with books. And of course, no one wants to get rid of any of the books, because they MAY want to read them again.

I need to get some of those baskets.

Thanks for the idea!

Jen

LunaMoonbeam said...

Does piling the books up in nooks and crannies count??

These ideas are adorable!

Anonymous said...

Those are really great ideas. I don't buy a lot of books; only 2 authors. I store them in boxes in the attic. I gave up a long time ago of having any shelving or a bookshelf.

Alida B. said...

The kids have a bookshelf in their room but they love to drag books all over the house so I went to the Goodwill and found some awesome baskets for about a dollar each. I have a basket tucked away in a corner of our living room so the kids have access to books everywhere in the house :) (It also makes for a quick clean up because we just collect all the books put them in the basket and we don't have to make the trip upstairs)

SoggyToad said...

Great idea... I'll have to check out gutters soon.

Kacey said...

Awesome! I love the book caddy - it would keep everything clean looking. We have baskets (but we need bigger ones) and then we stack them as well on a bookshelf.

The rain gutter idea is pretty cool too. I posted about using rain gutters as ribbon organizers. Whow knew rain gutters had so many uses! lol

Oh! And so glad we were allowed to vote more than once! I saw Katie's PS and I didn't even think I would be breaking any rules! LOL

Char @ Crap I've Made said...

I have the raingutters in my boys' room and our playroom. I have an IKEA pot lid rack holding books in my daughter's room and in my sewing room (blogged here: http://crapivemade.blogspot.com/2008/11/pot-lid-rack-turned-book-holder.html). One of my neighbors has used the IKEA stripa shelves for books in her son's room.

Aspiring Mom2three said...

I've seen a lot of teachers in this area using the rain gutters as book shelves, especially under their white boards, and other places. Great post!

Jeanette said...

I've heard of schools and libraries doing this to make the books more accessible for young kids (covers are more appealing than spines.) I've thought of doing it in my home but have just never gotten around to it.

Anonymous said...

We don't have the space to spread them all out like your neighbors do, but it's a great idea since my boys can see exactly what they need at a glance (being boys, they're not exactly good at looking for and finding things that are hidden beneath the first layer...you should see them searching for the mustard in the fridge). I think your bags idea is brilliant!

Anonymous said...

oooohhhhhh....the organized books look so pretty!!!!!