Well, it took almost a full year, but Adam’s dresser has gone from this:

to this:

I spent a good part of last summer/fall spray painting it and decided that I hate spray painting furniture. I also stained the top. And it’s been like that since February.
Then, I saw Ikea spice rack bookshelves all over the blogosphere and decided that I MUST HAVE SOME. So, I had my Karen pick up 10 before she came to visit.

They are only $4, but not available online. I saw them on ebay for the ridiculous price of $12. Karen just graduated from grad school, and I think she should get a part time job selling Ikea merchandise at an incredible markup on ebay, to help pay off her student loans. Don’t you think that’s a great idea?
Anyway, Karen snapped them together so quickly that I couldn’t even get a picture, and then I spray painted them to match the dresser.
And then came the hanging.
I decided to put them on the dresser because I’m a chronic furniture rearranger, so I didn’t want to do anything permanent on the walls, especially since I knew these wouldn’t be the easiest things to install.
So, I made a mark at 12 inch intervals up the side of the dresser. A foot seemed to be a good distance between the shelves. Almost all the books fit that way, and the ones that are a bit too tall are on the top shelf.
Then, it got tricky. The second screw had to be in exactly the right spot, or it wouldn’t work. After redoing 3 of the 4 shelves on one side, I got smart.
I measured the distance between the two hangers.

And marked it on my level with a piece of tape. (side note: it doesn’t do a lot of good to use a level when the front legs of the dresser are on the rug and the back legs are not. Oops.)

Then, I made the mark for the 2nd screw.
Next, I predrilled holes, using a drill bit that was slightly smaller than my screws. I used the 3/32nd one. And I used #6 1” wood screws (The #8s had too big of a head, FYI.)

Finally, I inserted the screws so they were still sticking out a bit and then popped the shelves on!

These 8 shelves don’t even hold half our books, but it makes it really easy for me to rotate them in and out, and Adam can find what he’s looking for really easily!

To see the whole transformation of the dresser from start to finish read:
Almost Done (that was in Feb.)
And for most posts on Adam’s room, click here.
Any other creative ideas for the other kazillion books we have? Please share!
Linking up at:
My Romantic Home for Show and Tell
Miss Mustard Seed for Furniture Feature Fridays
Perfectly Imperfect for All Things Furniture
The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home
Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Fridays
French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Fridays
At the Picket Fence for Inspiration Fridays
The Shabby Nest for Frugal Friday
A Little Knick Knack for Everything but the Kitchen Sink
Fingerprints on the Fridge for Feature Yourself Friday
Remodelaholic for Remodelaholic’s Anonymous
Under the Table and Dreaming for Showcase Sunday
Primitive and Proper for Piece of Work Wednesday
Inspiration Board
Show us your Kids Rooms

Love it, Katie!!
ReplyDeleteI like it! What a great idea!
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely fabulous. Great idea!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous is Shaunna :)
ReplyDeletethat us amazing! what a genius idea, katie!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea! I'll have to pass this idea on to my daughter. She's the same way..constantly re-arranging furniture! (she gets it honestly!)
ReplyDeleteThat is really cool!
ReplyDeleteLOVE that idea!
ReplyDeleteGood use of the spice racks. Worth it in the end. Well done
ReplyDeleteKylie
The dresser looks great! It was sooo creative to attach the shelves to it! Wow! I'm a chronic furniture mover too--I'm sure it drives my husband crazy!
ReplyDeleteThat is brilliant! We have soooo many books! I actually have a winter, spring, summer and fall tub with books in each. We rotate them by season. It is kind of nice to have "new" books to read every three months! I love that on the chest!
ReplyDeleteWhat a brilliant idea! Projects that are pretty and useful are my favourites.
ReplyDeleteWhat a super idea! And it turned out so lovely, too! Good job :-)
ReplyDeleteAwesome idea! And all those sweet stories ready for view--I'm thinking this would look great for adults too (PB will steal your idea) love it.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great idea! It looks very nice and organized.
ReplyDeleteWow. LOVE. I saw the same spice rack idea but I never would have thought to put them on a dresser. But I love it!
ReplyDeleteWow, what an awesome idea! I wish I had a dresser I could do this to.:) My sister is currently redoing her schoolroom so I must send her this post....
ReplyDeleteLOVE the spice rack idea! My sister is an IKEA lover and could use your idea for Karen to pay off student loans too. We use book shelves my great-grandpa built in our hallway to store books.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea Katie! It looks awesome. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea! Those shelves will make it really easy for your little one to put his books away all my himself.
ReplyDeleteThat is amazing!!
ReplyDeleteLOVE, love, love it! I need something like this for the boys! Also - where did you get the pic above the dresser??? I have it in a postcard, but I wanted a bigger one. Actually, I think I'm going to dress the boys like that (they live in OshKosh overalls) and do a remake!
ReplyDeleteWow! What a great idea! Nice job :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a great way to organize books and have them easy to pick up and put them away!
ReplyDeleteThat's great! those spice racks really come in handy!
ReplyDeleteEmily
domesticdeadline.blogspot.com
This is too wonderful! :) I write a children's book blog, may I share one photo and a link back to your post? I love this idea so much! :)
ReplyDeletevanessa
This is not only a fantastic idea for little boys or girls room and all their story books, it's a great idea for a mom's craft room. Spools of thread / craft magazines and who knows what all else!
ReplyDeleteThat is an awesome idea! What a space saver! I really like the way you refinished the dresser, too.
ReplyDeleteWhat a good idea, love it!
ReplyDeleteOk...this is a SERIOUSLY fantastic idea!! I'm just in awe of your creativity and it looks like a piece you would see at Pottery Barn or something. You did a fabulous job making that dresser into a custom piece! And I love that it is now dual purpose. Thank you so much for sharing this with us at Inspiration Friday this week!
ReplyDeleteVanessa
Ah, love this idea! Brilliant! I had a hard time figuring out where to hang ours as well! I didn't want to put them somewhere I would someday want the bed. I think we found a good spot next to the closet. I love what you did with yours. Great job!
ReplyDeleteLove this idea! We keep shelves up in the top of the closet and bought a storage ottoman that is my daughter's "book chair" and we will rotate books through there. But I absolutely adore this idea. Very inspiring! (new follower, too) and because this is sooo fabulous, I'm gonna share a link to it, too ;)
ReplyDeleteGenius! I love it! So practical!
ReplyDeleteFantastic idea! And it's adorable, too. Great job.
ReplyDeleteVery smart! Thanks for linking it up!
ReplyDeleteSherry
This is so creative! great job!
ReplyDeleteGreat job! Way to stick with a project. Hysterical to read about using the level when the dresser was half on the rug.
ReplyDeleteIf you have a moment, I would love for you to share this project on my Inspiration Board.
http://carolynshomework.blogspot.com/2011/07/inspiration-board-link-party_19.html
Thanks for the inspiration.
carolyn | homework
I think that's totally ingenious! Thanks for the inspiration.
ReplyDeleteKate @ welcomedtempest.blogpsot.com
So creative...love it :)
ReplyDeleteLove this! I am going to go to Ikea this weekend to pick up some of the spice racks. I want to spray paint them---did you sand them first or did you just paint them? [email protected] Thanks so much!
ReplyDeleteYou are full of fabulous ideas aren't you. That is such a clever idea.
ReplyDeleteHello! I'm Kassandra from Coffee and their Kisses. I featured this here at my blog. I hope you'll come by and grab a featured button to show how awesome you are :o)
ReplyDeleteKatie, this is SO COOL! I don't think I've ever seen anything like this before. Functional and cute! Way to go!
ReplyDeleteYou are a GENIUS! I am totally going to try this! AWESOME job!
ReplyDeleteWhat an excellent idea for the dresser. I love the way you've designed the side book shelves, very innovative. Love it!
ReplyDeleteI found this dresser on Pinterest. We just put those shelves up in our daughter's room, but on the wall. What a great idea to incorporate them into the dresser.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of using them on the dresser! Great thinking!!
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful idea! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI love this idea, and have posted a link on my blog! Great job!
ReplyDeleteReally great idea! We are overloaded with books around here and could use some more storage.
ReplyDeleteI love this idea! Great execution of an awesome idea! I featured it over at my Storage Geek Blog with full credit and link back.
ReplyDeleteI love this! I'm totally going to have to do this.
ReplyDeleteBy the way...I have been looking for a dresser exactly like that for a year! 6 drawers tall, all the same size. Where in the world did you find the dresser.
Thanks for the inspiration! I totally want to do this to store my clear stamp DVD cases in my craft room.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this, I pinned it to my pinterest board with your blog address for instruction and so you get credit for this idea, and I have had 347 repins of your wonderful idea and instruction! Good job!
ReplyDeleteI love the dresser!!
ReplyDeleteYou are so cleaver.I think in need to pin it.
ReplyDeleteGreat job.
Fantastic Idea! I'm pinning it too but never let the instructions go off line because it'll probably take me at least a year to get to it! I'm going to use the idea in my art studio!
ReplyDeleteThis would be great for all the stuffed animals our kids have and refuese to part with!!
ReplyDeleteThis is just amazing!
ReplyDeleteAnother fab idea! I'll be linking to this one as well. :)
ReplyDeleteAloha,
Charlie
This is such a great idea! I would love to feature this on Reduce, Reuse, Upcycle. Feel free to stop by and grab a featured button. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI love this idea, great Job! I'm linking it to my blog with a link to your tutorial.
ReplyDeleteThis is such an incredibly genius idea! Love how you used the spice rack! And thanks for visiting and commenting on my blog! It always means so much to get feedback from fellow DIYers!
ReplyDeleteThis is genius!! Have you posted on Ikea Hackers? (http://www.ikeahackers.net/)
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteHi! So remember your little tiff with Martha Stewart's magazine? I just noticed today on Pinterest that they pinned this from their own site and I posted a comment to be sure that people understood you get the credit :) Here's the pin: http://pinterest.com/pin/32088216065308464/ <3
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea! I'm a new follower, great blog!
ReplyDeleteReally nice! I've been searching for a piece of furniture that would combine bookshelf, storage and have a spot for the TV on top, and you've really made me thinking how I can do it by myself! Thank you!!
ReplyDeleteWe lived in some tight spaces when my kids were little--wish I'd thought if that!! LOVE IT! <3
ReplyDeleteI am so doing this to my son's room! He has a dresser for his clothes, and then a "parking garage" for his cars. I can put these on both and have plenty of room for all his books! thanks for this awesome idea! (plus we rent so these will easily go with us!)
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI love your tutorial, I featured it on my blog in a roundup on DIY home decoration.
ReplyDeleteI hope it's okay with you. (:
http://thisblackbirdsnest.blogspot.nl/2013/11/home-decoration-diy-roundup-2-style.html
ikea should totally steal you for awesome ideas!! excellant idea, lets rub elbows!
ReplyDelete