Book Storage

Not all of my craft projects are small. In my professional life I am a librarian.  I love all things books.  Book theme everything.  I have a massive book collection between audio, digital, and physical books.  Books are what I buy besides my crafting supplies.  Book cases are expensive particularly when you need 8 not standard size ones.  Yes that is just for me. My living space has been taken over by book cases and I am good with that.  

This is just one of them.  It fits my hardcover and trade paperback books.  

Here it is full of books.  I have a second bookcase that is also the same dimensions.  I just took 1 x 8 x 6 boards painted them the color I wanted.  To prevent paint transfer to my pretty books I also use polyurethane to seal in the paint.  I went with a less shiny polyurethane because I'm not a fan of shiny but if you are interested in it go for it.  Once they were all dried I took 2 inch screws and screwed in the boards.  The 2 inch screws to help support the books.  I also through in two back supports since books are heavy and it prevents the boards from bowing.  This is a very standard basic book case but it lasts.  I have one shown here:

This one has been around for years.  I use it for my paperback books.  I know some people like to place all their books together.  Mixing paperback with hardcover books but I like to keep them separate so I can squeeze in a few more books.  By spacing the shelves closer together to fit a 8.5 inches book is better than putting them all together and having to leave 12 inches between for hardcover books. My paperback book shelves are two different heights as where they were first placed one had more head room but with rearranging of rooms they are now next to each other.

My family also took out a built in desk and shelving unit in my living room.  This freed up space for my actual desk and a buffet given to me by my grandma.  I hated losing the built in book shelves but I gained so much more usable space.  To make up for it I researched some options and found I really liked the metal/wood look so that's what I did.

I love how they turned out.  Galvanized pipes from Home Depot's plumbing department screwed into the studs.  It can't take the weight of books but it can handle all my knickknacks.  I would love to do this in other locations in my space but it does get pricey.  Each part of the piping is about $3.  Each shelf not including the board was about $18.  At the end of the day a set of shelves for $65 isn't bad.  However, the walk-in closet I'm designing for myself is probably not going to happen.

I loved working on these and seeing them come together was awesome.  To see the finished product and know that I made that is amazing. You don't have to have a lot of skills to make these.  Just the patience to paint/stain and then seal them.