I had been throwing around ideas and scouring Pinterest (come on over and follow me) for bookshelf inspiration for a while now and I finally pulled the trigger and got down to business on my own DIY bookshelf build! I say “I”, but the majority or the heavy lifting was done my darling Dad who is always willing to lend a hand on a project like this one.
Before the Build
One of my reading goals for the year is to organize my books better so this project checks that goal off my list! I keep a large majority of my books on 2 tall bookshelves in our living room which flank an electric fireplace. This area is one of my favorites in our home to decorate but these shelves always let me down because they’re just not the look I’m going for. They look cheap (because they are), they make the space too dark, and they are too thin for the space. Keep in mind here that I am no where near a professional decorator because I have neither the talent or budget of Joanna Gaines.
I didn’t want to spend a whole lot of money or time on this project because there are lots of other things that need to be done around the house of greater importance. Saying that, I also didn’t want it to look like shit so basically I want to have my cake and eat it too. The usual. Luckily for me, I was able to achieve this by keeping things very simple.
After the Build
With some basic 1 x 10 pine boards (cut to size at the hardware store) and brackets, Dad and I knocked out this project in under 3 hours. I did do a little prep work by varnishing the boards the night before which took me about an hour. The white brackets had me a little worried but I am happy with the result.
I wanted it to be open, bright, simple and functional and I think that our easy DIY bookshelf build checked all of those boxes!
Congrats on your DIY project. Your new shelves are beautiful.
Thanks very much!
Those are killer shelves! We hacked some Ikea Billy Bookcases, and added paint and crown molding to make them look built in–love these floating shelves though!
Thank you!! Those Billy Bookcases are so versatile! It’s amazing what a little paint and molding will do.
I love the hanging bookshelves! I’ve been trying to get the hubby to mount some of these in multiple rooms to NO avail. He hates putting holes in the wall. Your project looks AMAZING!!! You’ll see your post hitting my Pinterest boards. P.S. We also have an electric fireplace…because Florida. SIGH.
Thanks! I’m so happy with how they turned out! A trick I like to use when I can’t convince my hubby to play along with my decor requests is … I call my dad and he comes over HAHAHA! I learned that one from my mom who once pulled up the carpet in the living room just DAYS before we hosted a baby shower at our house for my dad’s sister. I never saw my dad move so quickly to install click flooring muahahaha!