Rain Gutter Bookshelves

So I came across this idea {from here and here} who knows how long ago and bookmarked it. E was just a baby at the time, but I knew I wanted to it in his big boy room. It's a super cheap project which we made a bit cheaper by skipping a few materials. And of course, after being a teacher, I was all over the benefits! The idea behind them is that kids will be more encouraged to pick and chose books off the shelves because they can see the front cover. Really, it just makes the books that much more accessible to them.

And let's be honest, I'm hoping for some additional sleep once he gets trained the hang of waking up and grabbing a book to read on his own. Plus, I love the added bonus that it's an unexpected element; using unusual material for part of his room. 

Materials:

One 10 inch vinyl rain gutter {K frame style}

Six gutter end caps {2 per shelf}

Hack saw or table saw {to cut the gutter into shelves}

Drill {to mount them to the wall}

Total Cost: $22

We skipped:

The brackets {2 per each shelf; they aren't really that necessary if you mount on the wall studs}

Dry wall screws {we used some of our leftover 2.5 inchers}

What W We Did:

1. Cut the gutter to desired length {I wanted three shelves; 3 and 1/3 feet each}

2. Add end caps to gutters

3. Find studs and measure out your distance between shelves

4. Have one person hold shelf and level as the other person drills in one screw through each end of the shelf...this is where I came in.

5. Repeat for each shelf

6. Sneak some fun in

7. Fill shelves with books--we made sure to keep the shelves pretty low. E can reach the bottom two shelves now. Each shelf holds between 10-15 books. I made sure the top shelf was still a bit too high and stuck his 'nicer' books on that for now.

8. Admire and start reading!