Are you a bibliophile? Do you wish to acquaint your children with books so they can love them just as much as you do? The presentation of books in one’s house can be very helpful when it comes to introducing your children to books. This is why I was so excited when I first read about rain gutter bookshelves. It’s anyone’s guess as to who thought up this idea originally. But the idea can be found online practically everywhere on blog after blog.
For adults, having books on bookshelves with the spines facing out is fine. I love being able to run my fingers along the spines of my books while I’m deciding which one to read next. And as I have my books all arranged in order of subject i.e. French literature, English literature, ancient history, philosophy, antiquarian books (a separate shelf for them even), using regular bookshelves is okay. For children, however, it’s another matter entirely.
If I were a child, I would find it quite hard to get seriously excited about a bunch of books where I couldn’t even see the covers. After all, how would I go about choosing what book I wanted to look through or have a grown up read to me? I would have no idea which book was which or what they the book was even about if I couldn’t see the cover of it. This is why the idea of rain gutter bookshelves appealed to me so much. With these magical bookshelves your children can see the covers of each and every book! They can run to them and loudly exclaim, “I want The Gingerbread Man, mommy!” Certainly having the covers all facing out is a much more exciting prospect for children than going over to a basic bookshelf with no personality whatsoever, and one which they struggle to find just the right book at too.
One lovely fact about rain gutter bookshelves that will surely make parents happy is that they are cheap. They are ever so cheap when compared with bookshelves, even those purchased at IKEA. All you need to do is head to a store like Home Depot and buy yourselves some vinyl rain gutters and brackets (plus whatever tools you need to put these up). The ones we bought were already the perfect length for the room, so we didn’t need to trim them up any. There are tutorials for building these bookshelves should you wish to have some solid instructions set before you. They’re really much easier than you would think and are very durable. Ours came in a basic white color which worked nicely with the walls, but you can paint yours if you wish to be a little more daring. I guarantee your children will love these bookshelves and will be very happy when they’re able to see the covers of all of their favorite books. It’s a wonderful way to encourage your children to read!