DIY Book Ledge Library Wall

One of my favorite things? Walking into the room to find my girls reading. Okay, so they’re not quite old enough to ‘read’, but searching the pages, learning colors and pointing at objects that they recognize is good enough for me. Reading is such an important part of learning, so I will celebrate and promote it as much as possible.

So, I decided it was time to add a library wall to their reading nook.

For our baby shower, my host asked that people bring books in lieu of cards, so we have a lot of books. New books from friends and family and old books from our own childhood have created a pretty significant library for our little ones.

I’ve been keeping their books in a standard bookcase, with a basket of books on the ground for them to grab at will, but I was feeling like their collection was being neglected. If they could more easily access their books, it would be more exciting for them and encourage discovery.

Besides the obvious benefit of accessibility, what better way to decorate than with books. Books play a big role in our design scheme, as you might remember from my Built-in Bookcase. Bonus for me is that I found a bunch of books I’d completely forgotten about when I loaded up their library wall.

Library walls are a dime a dozen on Pinterest using picture ledges from any big box home improvement store or Ikea, but I thought I might as well whip these bad boys up with some leftover wood we had in the basement for FREE! This isn’t really a tutorial, but it’s pretty easy and self-explanatory. Here is is in a nut shell:

I used 1×2 finished pine boards for this project and simply cut them to size. There are (6) cut to 34″ and (6) cut to 38″, but your cuts will be based on your wall. Make sure to sand them really good, as little fingers will be all over them. Find the studs in your walls and mark each board to correspond with the stud. Drill a pilot hole through the 1×2 – your pilot hole is going long ways through the wood, so that the widest part becomes the ledge. Make sure to countersink the hole, so that the drill sits down in the wood. Attach your ledges to the wall using 3 – 4″ constructions screws. Then, using some glue and a nail gun, attach the ledge frame – widest part is now facing the wall.

That’s it! Wipe up any escaping glue and wait about an hour before loading with books. I decided to leave my wood raw, but you can easily paint them, as well. If you do paint them, I’d patch the nail holes before doing so. Also, if you don’t have a nail gun, so can use a hammer and finishing nails instead.

The girls LOVE them.

They emptied the bottom shelf in about 30 seconds flat. For now, they can’t reach the other shelves, but once they’re older and a little less destructive, I’ll put a stool in here so they can get to the other books as well.