A Place for the Books

Yep I am thinking since two of the items in this prject came to me from grandma Bauer and Grandma Linda, I get to put this post under Grandma's Treasures!

One of the things is in the photo above. Feel free to play I-Spy if you want. :)

 I am guilty! I let the kids get WAY to many books from the library and we have trouble keeping track of them all in our house. I try to keep them on the main floor piled up in the living room but the pile doesn't stay neat with a two year old around. The books don't always make it back to the corner either and end up under couches and entertainment centers leaving me to search for them when the time comes to return them.

So I needed something.. and THIS inspired me to start searching for the perfect magazine rack for our family to transform into our book holder. While it was my inspiration, what I found brought me in a totally different direction.

This is what I found.

Solid Oak heavy sturdy 70's Magazine rack. Not a flimsy one with narrow bottom but a squared off one that can hold MANY books! Yippee! Just perfect. It was a good thing I could see past the art deco post legs and 70's honey colored stain.

But I had to start priming right away. Couldn't stay in my house like that.

And unscrewed the peg legs. Way to 70's.

Lookin' better already. I liked the three bands of wood because they reminded me of a wooden crate. I could have made a book stand out of a wooden crate which are pretty popular right now, but I was not sure how to find one and I feared if I made one out of a pallet or something it would not be sturdy enough. So I enjoyed the sturdy, yet crate-like appearance of this solid oak magazine rack.

Now stick with me.. I know what you are thinking. MINT??  I wasn't too sure at this point either actually. The mint colored paint was a can of paint from Grandma Weber's. I didn't want white or black or red, and I really don't like buying paint when I have paint. I am not done yet! Although it would look adorable in a baby room at this point, it needed more work to be in my living room.

Had to bring it into the 90's a bit with casters. Guess where I got these? Grandma's garage. Yep that's right. These are the ones you can spot in the photo at the top of this post. Grandma Bauer is moving out and emptied the garage. I took a set of 4 casters, knowing I would be putting them on the bottom of some kind of toy box or something someday. This was perfect! And I love the way they look. I even have wheels on my coffee table, but that is another story. 

Now there see. That looks great doesn't it? I distressed it so that the Mint is not so bad. I did some sanding in the areas it would have wear if it was older, and I even used some dollar store shoe polish here or there (Shhhh that is my little secret foe finishing technique to making things look older)

Now to bring it inside to the living room. Place it in the corner, and fill it with books!

Will I put chalkboard paint on the side to write the due date on like the inspiration piece? I like the idea, maybe someday, but right now I know my kids would just erase it and I would have to look at the computer anyway. We will see if just having a place to put the books, helps to keep the library books under control.

It even matches one of our favorite books!

Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee boy!

Be sure to click on the photos to see them full size!

And leave a comment if you like what you see.

They make me happy and I read them all!

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