Spice it Up: Smart Ikea Rack Hack for Books
Reading to your child is one of the best things you can do as a parent — it stimulates their imagination, expands their understanding of the world, and helps them develop language and listening skills. Because of this, I make a point of incorporating book storage and, ideally, display in every kids’ bedroom design. When confronted with limited space, I typically opt for wall-mounted floating shelves. In project Smooth Move, where budget was top of mind, I went the DIY route and transformed 4 Ikea spice racks into a mini library for under $40!
Supplies
Here’s what you’ll need to recreate this project:
Step-by-Step Guide
1. After a quick trip to Ikea (okay, it was more like a leisurely afternoon but can you blame me?), I unwrapped and lightly sanded each piece of the Bekvam spice rack with 220-grit sandpaper. Afterwards, I used a microfibre cloth and dry wiped the individual pieces to remove any dust.
2. For this project, I decided to paint everything except the topside of the birch shelf and the piece that prevents the books from toppling onto the floor. I applied my favourite painter’s tape (FrogTape) to the topside of the shelf to protect it, and then primed everything else with Fresh Start by Benjamin Moore not once but twice, waiting 3 hours between coats. When priming, I like to use a roller followed by a paint brush to remove any excess paint
3. Using a small high-density paint roller, I top-coated the primed pieces with a tester pot of Benjamin Moore’s Thunder (AF-685), waiting 24 hours between coats. After the second top coat was fully dry, I assembled the spice racks turned bookshelves.
4. To hang on the wall, you need two #8 screws for each shelf (not provided) and a total of 8 wall anchors if you can’t screw directly into a stud. The type of anchor will depend on the wall material (drywall or plaster). For drywall, Cobra’s WallDriller anchors are my fave.
5. Once I determined placement and inserted the anchors and screws into the wall using a screwdriver, I picked up a bookshelf and felt the back of each side rail with my fingers to find the location of the keyholes. Then, I slid the keyholes over the exposed screw heads.
6. After each of the 4 shelves were hung it was time to fill them with books! While you don’t want to overload the shelves, they’re pretty sturdy and can hold a fair number, both paperback and hardcover.
TIP: Ikea’s Bekvam spice rack is extremely versatile. Turn it upside down to create a clothes-hanging rod with shelf atop, add to an office area to store stationary and notebooks, or use for nail polish storage or to organize craft supplies like ribbons. The possibilities are only limited by your imagination!
