Kid wall bookshelf storage solution (and what not to do!)
Otto‘s room is almost done! The shelves were one of the last things. His room doesn’t have a lot of wall space and I was struggling to store books, even a few of them. (We keep most of them in the living room.) For a while we just kept a basket of books next to the rocking chair, but it was always overflowing. There’s just this little wall space above the heater vent so it was tricky to find a shelf for there. I’m sure a lot of other kids rooms are lacking in wall/storage space, so this bookshelf method is really helpful for a lot of people!
How to store baby or kid books on the wall
I’ve seen it done lots of times and with lots of different configurations, but the IKEA Mosslanda picture ledges are a great storage solution for kids books! They're 4.75" deep and come in 21.75" or 45.25" long, for $10 or $15, respectively. These are the 21.75" long ones. I almost got three more for Lucy’s room, but she is still OK with the basket of books!
Where to buy picture ledges for kid bookshelves
I did some research on other similar options because IKEA is not that close to me and last time I went during COVID the lines were super long and it took hours and was stressful. Amazon has some options, including in natural wood if you want to bring in some more wood/warmth, and cool clear acrylic ones for a fancy modern look, and Target has a similar-looking picture ledge. I tried that, because they're so much more accessible than the IKEA ones--I ordered some from Target and started installing them and as Otto was playing with just putting a couple books on the first one, the screws and hardware pulled right out and the shelf fell down! Aaack! So even though they look similar to the IKEA ones, they are not made the same way. Do not order these for this purpose!
My IKEA is finally doing Click and Collect curbside pickup orders again, plus my friend was going so she picked these up for me. We finally have them and they are just great! With these, the screws go directly through the shelf so there’s no bracket to pull off. I used a sturdy drywall anchor screw but also the left side of these is screwed into a stud (the right just through our lath and plaster).
Total cost for these is about $30, plus the screws which I already had. (They don’t come with screws.) Probably the best price for this kind of thing, than finding a great little vintage bookcase at an estate sale or something. But also, you can really customize with the floating ledges, and they're a versatile style that can go almost anywhere! I’ve also seen this done above the changing table for books for the parents to reach, or a whole wall of these!
I have a few more things to do in Otto‘s room before calling it done. (But at least I got Lucy's nursery done last month!)
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