Tuesday, August 07, 2012

our book dilemma


The bedrooms in our 1978 rancher are not large, and Mabel and Oliver's book collection seemed to be growing by the minute! I was tired of seeing the books stacked on the floor, but I couldn't stand the idea of taking up valuable floor space with a book case. This was my dilemma.


Rain gutter shelves were my solution. I'm sure you've seen them around. They were quite easy to install, and very inexpensive. We had a length of rain gutter left over from our roof, so I only needed to buy one 10 ft length (about $5) and 16 clips (about $2 a piece).


We jammed as many books as we could into them, and so far they seem up to the challenge.


There are caps you can buy to enclose the ends of the shelves and make them look neater, but with 8 shelves they were out of my budget. (My budget = as close to free as possible.)

When Mabel and Oliver's room is clean and the beds are made, it still might be my favorite room in our house.

p.s. I found this tutorial helpful.

11 comments:

  1. We really might be twins separated at birth! My favorite nightlight is a light up globe, I put those same Ikea lights above a reading nook bed AND I put up rain gutter bookshelves too! The only sadness is that I do not have those awesome matching beds. I just love how you did their entire room! (Okay done gushing now) :)

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  2. That looks fantastic!

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  3. What a great idea! It looks fabulous. Yay for books!

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  4. I love reading your blog. Your focus on life's simple pleasures makes for a happy read every day. I also love seeing that your kids are bookworms. Ay favorite authors or series for beginning readers? My oldest is heading off to kindergarten and I'm on the hunt for some good books for him this school year.

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  5. I love this room. It looks so cozy and sweet.

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  6. That's a neat idea Thanks for sharing

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  7. I've never seen those, but they look amazing! I stil dream of having a room that is just for books. Perhaps one day!

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  8. Beautiful! I think I could live in that room...books all around:)

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  9. clever,clever,clever-you are the best!
    Hugs

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  10. I think they look lovely.

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