Use Books to Create Some Hidden Storage

We have been busy working in our study turning some Ikea shelves into built in shelves.  While doing this project, I am trying to organize my office also. It turns out that I need something to just put some odds and ends in, but I didn’t want it to look like any ole bin.  I saw this great idea on Sewing Barefoot and thought it would look great on the new shelves while hiding some of my stuff.

 

 

See those books on the right of the bicycle?  Well, that is a box that is hiding all sorts of things.  Come learn how to make your own hidden book box.

 

 

First of all, I headed to the thrift store to pick up some books.  Make sure you know the size of your crate or box beforehand.  I thought I did, but I ended up making two more trips back to the store to get two more books.  (I didn’t want to destroy our own books.)  You will also need a box or crate to cover, a glue gun, and an exacto knife.

 

 

Next, you want to cut and remove the pages of each book by using the exacto knife.  Cut on each side of the cover and the pages should come out in one bundle.

 

 

This is how it will look once you cut out the pages.  You will have the book cover without the pages.

 

 

When I was cutting the books, this sweet valentine card fell out of one.  It was a Valentine card to someone’s sister.  I thought it was perfect to display for the upcoming Valentine holiday.

 

The next step is to select the two books you would like as the end books.  Once you decide, take your knife and cut off the side off that will not need to be attached to the box.

 

 

Here, you can see how the part I didn’t cut will cover the end of the box.

 

 

The next step is to glue the books to the box.  I took the back off of one of the books and glued it to the box so I would have a dark background to cover any bare spots.

 

 

For the books in the middle you cut off both covers so that you just have the book’s spine.  Then you just glue the spines side by side till you get to the end.

 

 

Here are the books glued onto the box.  I can hide some things in the box, and no one will ever know –  well, except everyone that reads the blog.  You can see I did have a little bit of extra spacing left over, but when the books are on the shelves you cannot tell.

 

 

Now you are ready to make a hidden book storage box for your shelves!

 

 

Cheers!