Transform A Bookcase Into A Stylish Coffee Table For Less Clutter With This Simple DIY

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Whether you have an old bookcase gathering dust in a storage locker or you picked one up at a yard sale, you might be wondering if it's worth rescuing. There are plenty of upcycling ideas to consider before tossing an old bookcase. However, if you're looking to bring some order to the chaos that's been reigning in your living room, then you might appreciate this simple DIY we found on TikTok from creator @thesorrygirls. In her video, she shows how she turned an old bookcase into a stylish coffee table. It even has a lift-top lid that gives you a place to stash all those items you want out of sight but still within reach.

This is a doable DIY for anyone with some basic woodworking skills. After taking the shelves out of an old bookcase and removing the back, creator @thesorrygirls fills the back with the shelves for a sturdy base. She then replaces the back before attaching wooden furniture legs. After using an old cabinet door and lift-top hinges for the lid, she matches the stain for the wooden legs and finishes her project with adhesive wood-look trim. She now has a lift-top coffee table with easy-access storage that's the perfect size for her living room. In addition to making it easier to afford a stylish coffee table, this project offers benefits like saving an old bookcase from the trash and making it easier to declutter your living room.

In this project that turns an old bookcase into a coffee table, the lift-top hardware steals the show and makes it easy to reduce clutter in your living room. Here, @thesorrygirls starts by removing the shelves and the back, using them to construct a sturdy base. Then, she uses an old cabinet door for the lid of her coffee table, but you could also use a piece of butcher block or plywood that's been painted, stained, or finished with epoxy. After attaching the lid with lift-top hinges, such as these VIVO Coffee Table Lift Mechanism Hinges, which cost about $25.00 per set from Amazon, the result is a stylish coffee table that makes it easy to stay organized.

The end result will depend on a few factors, such as your skill level, the size and shape of your old bookcase, the trim and hardware you use, and other living room decor ideas that have inspired you. Since the depth of your bookcase becomes the height of your coffee table, the first thing you need to do is find the right size legs. If you can't find them used, online options such as these 6-inch Waddell Traditional Table Leg with Hanger Bolts from Home Depot are still affordable at less than $6 per leg. Once they are stained or painted, you can achieve any aesthetic you want. In many cases, this project can be completed for around $50 to $75 including the hinges, furniture legs, trim, and finish.

When it comes to bookshelf transformations and makeovers using old wood or laminate bookcases, this project offers an affordable way to get a nice looking coffee table with a lift-top lid. The lift-top lid is what gives this project the look of a coffee table with the functionality of a storage chest all in one piece of furniture. You can use almost any type of bookcase, from solid wood to inexpensive bookcases made with MDF shelves to build it. You can also retrofit pieces like old wooden storage crates and small chests of drawers using this same approach. Just be sure to consider features like a sturdy base and something solid to attach the lift-top hinges to.

This is a good project for practicing your DIY skillset, especially if you already have an old bookcase lying around taking up storage space. You could also consider some other good candidates for making repurposed coffee tables, such as old toy chests and trunks, which may already have a hinged lid. No matter what style you choose or piece of furniture you start with, another idea that adds more functionality and makes it easier to clean your living room is to add caster wheels so you can move it around easily while you're cleaning. Also, if you have more than one bookcase to get rid of, consider repurposing one into DIY a stylish storage bench with a cushioned lid.