We are all about books in this house. I grew up being read lots and lots of books, Liv LOVES to hear stories and to pull books down from her shelves to flip through and I hope that Taylor will be as keen on them one day as well. This weekend we installed an awesome library wall for the girls to display, organize and encourage book play and I’m super happy with how it turned out.
And how about that acrylic? Oh it makes the design part of my brain happy.
It’s really fun to see Liv take so much pride in arranging her books and choosing which to read before naps, bedtime and in between. Previously books were stacked on a bookshelf or in a basket next to our rocker, now titles (and front covers) are easily found and stored. Acrylic is a trend I’m willing to keep around for a long, long while.
Those acrylic bookshelves are actually card ledges built for card stores (like Hallmark). I believe I first learned of this awesome to-the-card-store-trade resource from Emily Henderson, but I can’t seem to find the original post where she recommended them. Regardless, if you love the look of acrylic you will love this online store, which is much cheaper than the acrylic bookshelves made for this very purpose… (I think I’m going to get some neat clear boxes to hold blocks, art supplies, etc off of Amazon next). I purchased the 30″ versions though they range from 16-48″.
Liv sporting her nana’s spectacles during an impromptu dress-up moment while reading her books. After about 2 seconds she told us that she was going to put them down on her nose so that she could ‘see’ the pictures.
I’d love to eventually cover this floor area with soft cushions and maybe a pouf to create a little reading lounge.
These guys were not hard to install and I was planning on tackling the project this week while the girls were napping, but my family came to visit for the weekend and my awesome dad stepped in to help.
At first it was a family affair…
Once we decided how far off of the ground, how far apart each shelf should be, where on the wall to hang… dad knocked the project out.
A little tip I’ve learned over the years: if you have plaster walls like ours (and even better, lath and plaster walls built in the 1930s) and you’re installing your own clear bookshelves (or picture frames, etc), you’re going to want to make sure you anchor each and every screw that you drill in.
Anchors come in many forms but often they look a bit like this:
After marking your drill points on the wall with a pencil, drill a hole that is just a hair smaller than the anchor. Insert anchor as if you were plugging up the hole (tap gently with a hammer if necessary) and screw the metal screw directly into the anchor. Measure out next shelf and repeat!
Bah, I love it. It’s so fun and I’m so happy it encourages more reading.
Even reading on a rocking horse if that’s your thing.
PS More nursery transformation posts here.
