Have you seen all the cool ways people are using the IKEA spice racks as bookshelves? I found so many fun examples on Pinterest and just had to get some for our house too. I love the size~ they aren’t overbearing and hold a decent amount of books. And I love that they can display the front covers of the books~ so much more inviting for little readers. Best of all, they are natural wood which looks nice on it’s own or lends itself to so many ways to be decorated.
I decided to leave our first set as natural and hung them by our nature table in our main living room. We had been keeping our seasonal books in a basket near the nature table, but this is so much more welcoming.
The second set was destined for Lucy’s room. She’s been in desperate need of a place to keep books in her bedroom, and this seemed perfect. I thought it would be fun for her to be active in every part of the project to really encourage her pride and ownership and to just have fun!
So, step one was building the shelf. Lucy was able to have her first experience building an Ikea item with the help of her dad (and baby brother). She loved it!
Then we had to decide how to decorate them. We had some leftover non-toxic paint we had used to paint Lucy’s bedroom furniture. I thought it would be perfect to paint the shelves the same white to match her furniture and then, later, let her paint her own designs on them. Here she is getting the first coat of white on the shelves. (I had to do a little smoothing later on~she really lathered on that paint!)
The next week we got out some paints and set up a painting area on the kitchen table. I put out all the materials she would need and let her begin painting.
The first day she painted two and half of the shelves, but then got tired. Here was her progress at that point~
The next day she finished the remaining shelves. I sprayed a few coats of an acrylic sealer over them to keep the paint from chipping.
Finally done and reading to be hung!
We hung the first two shelves in her reading corner, right above her beanbag chair. The second pair were hung near the doorway.
I think they look absolutely adorable in her room. And, best of all, she is so excited that she created them all herself!
