Rain Gutter Bookshelf

My daughter is a book worm and I LOVE it!  My favorite place to find books are at yard sales.  I've found so many classics like Dandelion, The Cat in The Hat, Goodnight Moon and many others and usually all for under a buck, can't beat that!!  However, with this collection of books comes less and less space to store and display them.  We were using my daughter's toy bin organizer.

As you can see that was not working, at least not for me.  It was messy and I've been reading how displaying books with covers facing outward draws the child to the book.  My search began but where to start......?  Pinterest, of course!

Lately, when it comes to organizing I'm thinking hanging more since floor space is limited.  We went vertical with organizing my daughter's stuffed animals and it has worked GREAT!  I knew the bookshelf would have to be something that could hang too. I found lots of great wall book shelves but most were a bit too pricey. Finally, I found what I felt to be a fantastic idea and inexpensive........rain gutter book shelves!  It sounds strange, I know BUT it works really well!

I found a great tutorial for hanging these bookshelves at Raising Olives.  I so wanted to hang on my own but I have been known to have a tad of trouble even with hanging a picture so hubby to the rescue!  My husband was a real trooper about it and we even spent part of our date night at the local Lowe's!

This bookshelf was really easy to hang and it took my husband about 2 hours start to finish.  You can probably get this done in less than that but my husband is a bit of a perfectionist  procrastinator!

If you decide to do this keep these things in mind: 

• Gutters are sold in one 10 ft piece that you will need to cut down to size UNLESS you have a wall that can hold the entire 10 feet.  

• If you have a small car you may want to consider borrowing someone's SUV or larger truck.  We have a Ford Explorer and the piece literally went from the back ALL THE WAY to the front dash. 

• Don't forget the end caps for the gutters!  Be sure they fit before leaving the store

• Don't forget brackets - you will need 2-3 brackets per 5 foot piece.  (we used 2)

• Be sure to get the more decorative gutter that looks more like a crown moulding.  They also sell the less decorative ones and although it will work, it is not as 'pretty.'

A little secret - we originally bought the 'non pretty' ones and I didn't realize they were not the right ones until after they were hung, yikes!  My husband did take it down because I really wanted the 'prettier' ones.  But if you can't get the 'crown molding' type this will work too:

Here's a shot of the less decorative rain gutter.  The main difference is the brackets can be seen.

The bookshelf cost a total of $16!  Way cheaper than other bookshelves I found.  It does not hold as many books as when we had it in the toy bin but since I rotate her books I put out some and put the others in a shelf in her closet. 

The best part is my daughter loves looking at her books now more than ever.  I use to pick her books at night but since this has been up I find her sitting in front of the shelf picking out books before I even come into the room!  

And if you're looking for other ways to display books check out some ideas from Alpha Mom.