The Smallish Library.
June 28, 2010
We moved into our first home about 3 months ago. We have done hardly any decorating…mostly fixing up the place to make it livable (it was quite the fixer upper!) But the first things we did do were to establish the reading corners throughout the home. We read a lot. And I realized just now as I am writing this that we have 6 designated reading spots in the house. I love that several times a day, I’ll find the kids reading in one of our book nooks. My office has large book case full of mostly children’s books, we have a library room (it’s really the living room with a wall to wall bookcases), the kids have bedside books, Ken and I have bedside books with books for the whole family, and we have a basement bookcase full of children’s books. That’s a lot of books! So that makes 5.
But the 6th place was added a few weeks ago when we purchased these picture frame shelves from IKEA and made a display book case. It was an interesting thing: For as many books we had through out the house, so many of the picture books that were crammed into bookcases just weren’t getting read unless I displayed them in baskets, or pulled them out for their reading piles.Think of it like browsing in the bookstore and not having any books on display, and only getting the spine to entice you to pull it down.
This bookcase has solved that problem! We rotate the books every other day or so, and the kids pull them down so much more often than before.
And besides that, it’s just pretty. It’s really like displaying art! Really good art at that!
There are so many ways to make display bookcases.
Here are some other ideas if IKEA isn’t available (although, I hear Target has the same kinda thing)
A MacGyvered bookcase from old wire and such.
These bookcases are actually a rain gutters, painted white and cut to size. Seen on Small Notebook Blog and Tiny Decor Blog and Satori Smiles.
Clever IKEA hack that keeps the books from falling off but still give the visual punch.
We have plans to do more….like make the closet next to the shelving into a reading cave complete with curtains and flashlights to make for a dark cozy reading spot …but more on that later.
So question: How have you made reading time fun at your house?
17 Comments for this entry
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July 3rd, 2010 on 5:36 am[...] The Smallish Library from Sarah Jane Studios {see photo above!} [...]
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October 4th, 2010 on 11:59 pm[...] to read. Ribba picture ledges make for a quick and affordable makeshift book display, as seen here. For a more industrial look try this $12 book display mounted. Can’t attach anything to [...]
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February 18th, 2011 on 9:14 am[...] I hung the large print we got on our honeymoon but got stuck there. Should I arrange the rest of the smaller prints in a more random pattern on the left side or should I attach the two photo shelves we have to the wall and leave the frames resting on them so they can be arranged more casually? It looks like IKEA discontinued the shelves, but here’s a great example of what they look like when being used as a child’s library. [...]
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October 10th, 2011 on 4:39 pm[...] Sarah Jane Studios Blog [...]
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i love, love, love that first photo. thank you for the idea, i am definitely getting some of those shelves soon. i actually have some already but they are in use, holding our sand collection. i love seeing sneak peeks of other people’s homes, so thank you.
What a wonderful idea!
We, too, have books everywhere around the house. I let Amelia (age 5) flip though my books whenever she likes (even though she can’t read them quite yet!). We try to make reading fun by giving characters thier own “voices.” Now that she is learning to read, we will take turns reading book pages on her level and have gradutated into reading chapters of longer books as the bedtime story.
Love the idea of reading corners – wish I had space to put in floor to ceiling bookcases …
I have those bookshelves but in australia ikea only sell them in black …. but I’m that sort of desperado that I painted them white!! Wish they sold them in white here so I could use them more! We have our books colour coded in the shelves thekids love putting them back and making sure they are the right colour….helps keep them a bit tidier and they look good too…it is amazing the number of people who comment….your book nook is great….I like how you used under the window which sometimes can be a bit of a dead space…
LOVE this idea!! So cute, and easy enough, I could even do it!!!
Sarah,
This is another great post! I have always enjoyed reading and love picture books for their art. I remember one Christmas displaying our Christmas books as decoration on shelves and other flat surfaces.
All 3 of my kids are grown and gone from this book reading nest. The public and school libraries were important parts of our lives. I wish I had read this when my kids were young. We have always had lots of books around, but I think all the different reading corners would have made the books more desirable. Of my 3 children, 2 are still avid readers. My third child is a media junkie, *sigh*.
However, at least one of my two grandsons is all this book loving grandmother could wish for. He goes straight to my bookshelves first thing after our greeting hugs and kisses!
Sarah,
I love it! Thank you so much for sharing this — this is exactly what we need in my kids room. So beautiful, I love the white shelves, it really makes the books pop!
Eek! I love this! I would like to feature this in my next Print-Rich Spaces post: http://lettersoupblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/favorite-print-rich-spaces.html
I’ve also been meaning to share those awesome rain gutter shelves. They’re so clever.
I found this because I posted today about your list of chapter books for younger readers.
I obviously like your blog a lot!
The shelves look beautiful! I agree that picture books facing outward is like wonderful, happy art! My husband and father-in-law made me a library wall in our teeny tiny office and I absolutely adore it. It is right by the children’s rooms so it’s easy for them to always have a supply of balloons (in addition to what’s in their rooms!).
(if you are interested here’s a picture of our wall: http://princessandthefrogblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/library-wall.html)
I read! That’s how we started to make it fun… I read all the time- to myself, to the children, outside their bedroom in the evening while they lay in their beds. We go to the library at least once every two weeks, and come home with 70+ books, stuffed into bins that sit on the hearth and within comfy, cozy reach of the rocking chair and couches. We love reading!
I am a longtime fan (and fellow Utahn!) and absolutely cannot WAIT until your mermaid print is available- my four-year-old (only) daughter loves mermaids, but we were unsure of plastering them on her walls because of the “indecency” of most of them… but your sweet maids with their long tops? Perfect! You are brilliant and so talented, and I love visiting here and sharing your work with others!
~Blessings~
Erin: Great post on your blog! I love the “how to raise a reader” post. so great!
Elise: Reading with your kids is so key…but having them watch you read is just as important! I’d love to see you carting those library books across the parking lot! Awesome!
Anna: I AM IN LOVE with your library! Did you all see her link? Amazing!!!!!
Oh my, adore the first photo and may I say will be ‘borrowing’ that idea in our new house. What do you do to stop Ella pulling off books?
[...] The Smallish Library from Sarah Jane Studios {see photo above!} [...]
Love your library! We’re big fans of reading spaces…and I need to create one in my middle daughter’s room. But sadly, we just moved away from an IKEA! I’ll have to check Target, but….do you know what the shelves you used are called (from Ikea?)? Thanks!
Oooh, I just got the bug to make more reading corners in our home! My kids LOVE to read and these are such great ideas to more easily facilitate that. Fabulous!!!
I used IKEA ribba picture rails for my son’s books too… I love having them displayed! Storybooks are art!
Love love love this. Books are so important to me and even tho I don’t have any children right now I have a huge collection of children’s books already. Of course I’m also a preschool teacher so that has something to do with it.
Just found your blog and kinda in love. Thanks!
[...] to read. Ribba picture ledges make for a quick and affordable makeshift book display, as seen here. For a more industrial look try this $12 book display mounted. Can’t attach anything to [...]
[...] I hung the large print we got on our honeymoon but got stuck there. Should I arrange the rest of the smaller prints in a more random pattern on the left side or should I attach the two photo shelves we have to the wall and leave the frames resting on them so they can be arranged more casually? It looks like IKEA discontinued the shelves, but here’s a great example of what they look like when being used as a child’s library. [...]
[...] Sarah Jane Studios Blog [...]