Make your own Shelves for Books and Magazines
Books and magazines take up a lot of space. You want to make sure they’re well organized to keep your home looking tidy. The good news is that you can make your own shelves to store them properly. Are you ready? In this article, we’ll show you how.
DIY shelves with drawers
If you consider yourself a true ‘handyman’ you can take advantage of your skills and make a craft that’s both decorative and useful: a shelf with drawers for your books and magazines.
Do you have an old piece of furniture that doesn’t work anymore? Then you can use the drawers from it. Or, you can use the fruit baskets they use at the market. You could even make them yourself with four wooden boards and a bottom underneath.
It’s easy. You just have to sand the drawer to eliminate any imperfection and then paint it with any color you want. You can even just varnish it if your house is decorated with wood.
Then, get a wooden strip two centimeters wide that’s the length of the drawer. This will be used as a ‘stop’ so the books and magazines won’t fall out. Last, screw two eyebolts on the back and you can hang it on the wall.
You can use this piece to hold your books. Or, you can use it for other decorative objects like pots, boxes or ornaments. Do whatever you want and arrange them on the wall however you like!
Bookshelf made with a ladder
There’s nothing more fun than going to the market and buying antique furniture at ridiculous prices. Or, you can ask a friend or relative if they have something they don’t want or need anymore.
Lately, it’s become fashionable to decorate with ladders, especially those that make a triangle shape when opened. If you want to use them to hold books, you have to put a shelf or a piece of wood between the steps. If you lean it against the wall, it’ll be easier to make sure nothing falls. Otherwise, we recommend putting a weight on each side of it; you can decorate them beautifully.
Invisible bookshelves
You don’t need a lot of materials to make these and the result is very original and fun. These are shelves without a supporting piece.
Think about how many books you’ll be stacking on top of each other so you can buy the wall brackets and screws. This will keep them from breaking and everything ending up on the floor.
You’ll need two for each column of books that you want to keep in place. Keep in mind that you won’t be able to remove the book that’s on the bottom…unless you remove all of them! We recommend choosing one that you’ve already read, some cheap second-hand one or one that’s larger than the rest for good support.
Make sure you’re using strong screws with the horizontal part facing down to put your metal supports on the wall. So, they should look like an ‘L.’ Measure the books so you know how much distance you should put between each support (or at least the book that’ll be below). Then, it’s just a matter of putting whichever books there that you want. You could even try following a certain theme when creating your invisible shelves.
Shelves for magazines
If you want to create a reading space at home, like in the living room or your kid’s room, this is a very interesting idea. This shelf is similar to the ones you see at kiosks or in waiting rooms.
To make it, you’ll need wood slats of different thicknesses and sizes. You’ll want one wider and longer for the base, two wide and narrow for the sides and one long one to ‘hold up’ the magazines or books.
A good idea: paint the wall using a striking color like green, yellow or purple, but leave the shelves white or natural. This will give you a nice space just for reading. Make it even cozier with a good sofa, a lamp, and a small table close-by.