Tuesday 7 February 2012

Book Racks for Small Spaces

Earlier this winter, I went on a quest to find the perfect bookcase for my son's room. Or, more accurately, the perfect book rack. My son's room is small (like most rooms in our house), and so space is at a definite premium. A normal bookcase would have been too bulky, and would have to have been awkwardly positioned between the dresser and the drawers of the trundle bed.

Off I went to do some online research, thinking this should be a fairly straightforward task. And friends, that it was not! Especially since many great sites south of the border still do not ship to Canada, or charge exorbitant amounts for shipping & duties and whatever else.

Anyways, in my quest, I did manage to come across a few good options for book racks, and thought that I would share them.

One site that always makes my search list for online shopping is Etsy.com. And it didn't disappoint for book racks, either. I really did like the double row book rack from CedarPointeWoodworks - the quality looked great and at a reasonable price point, too: 


Land of Nod had many beautiful options, although they were all more than what I wanted to pay.


I was even willing to hop across the border to Target in Watertown to pick one up - or ship to the border and cross the bridge to pick it up (brilliant service, I've done it before). And since we are all awaiting the arrival of lovely Target in Canada, I did check out what they had to offer in the book rack department, and they did have this fairly standard, nothing fancy option:



In the end, however, I ended up back at Pottery Barn Kids -- and since they now ship to Canada (can't tell you how happy I am about this), it also makes considering purchasing anything from here *much* simpler to do! (Before, I typically used it as a site for inspiration, then went off to find something comparable that shipped to Canada!). Anyways, we ended up buying our book rack from here, and I love it. It fits the space perfectly, and looks great with the rest of the furniture. I've taken a picture of it set up in the room:



The bonus of a book rack vs. a bookcase, too? The kids can see the fronts of the books! And it's easier for kids to put the books away and not have the case or shelf look like a disaster. So, a bit of a hassle to find the perfect fit, but worth it in the end. And, now that we're knee deep in kitchen renos and have spent hours researching every detail and corner of the kitchen, the hunt for the book rack seems like a piece of cake!