Upcycle IKEA Wooden Dish Racks Into A Floating Shelf To Display Your Small Books

If you are a book lover who wants to organize your collection and make it look less chaotic, then this simple DIY floating bookshelf design could be perfect for you. It takes up little space, and it can be created using an inexpensive IKEA item, meaning it will not take away from your book budget too much. This project involves mounting bamboo dish racks vertically on a wall or piece of furniture so that you can balance the books on the prongs to display them. Whether you display the books with the spines out for a pop of color or in for a neutral style, this is a great way to show off your collection while keeping it easily accessible.

Creating this bookshelf is incredibly easy and requires no tools. All you need is the OSTBIT plate holder from IKEA and some Command small wire toggle hooks. The IKEA plate holder has two crossbars, so start by measuring the distance between them and their width. Then, choose where you want your new bookshelf to be. If you need ideas, learn about some of the sneaky places for a bookshelf you have never thought of. Place the wall adherence stickers and hooks at the proper places to have two hooks holding up each cross bar when the plate holder is placed vertically on the wall. Put the rack in place, slot in your books, and the display is complete. You can then repeat the process, stacking the racks to make a long floating shelf, and you can explore additional ways to personalize the display.

This project is flexible and cost effective. The IKEA plate holder costs $5.99 and holds six books, and a set of 16 Command hooks costs $9.65. You will need four hooks per dish rack, since the hooks only hold up to a half a pound each. Stick with a single rack, or grab multiples to house a larger collection. A set of 16 hooks and four dish racks will let you display 36 books, for example. If you decide not to display so many, then you can turn your extra plate holders into a clever entryway organizer.

When choosing books, make sure that you use paperbacks and shorter books rather than hefty hardcovers to avoid overloading the racks with weight. Also, because the prongs are not very long, you will want to stick to books that are smaller in size, such as pocket books. Another way to upgrade this shelf is to add grips to keep the books in place, such as the LeFix rubber silicone feet dots that come in a pack of 12 for $5.99.

If you want this budget-friendly display in your home but the bamboo is not really your style, you can easily paint the dish racks for a different aesthetic. Neutrals like black and white are easy to match with most rooms, and painting the racks the color of the wall or furniture they are mounted on can make them blend in and enhance the floating effect of the books. Once you are happy with the shelf, you can apply some tips on how to decorate a bookshelf, such as organizing by color or adding a faux plant on top of the highest book for some greenery to get a finished look.