Really Reusable: Pottery Barn Inspired Bookrack

I remember the first time I spotted their now iconic bookrack in the Pottery Barn Kids catalog. HA! I thought. I could make that. Just give me a drill, a saw, some spray paint, and… an old wall-mounted dish rack. Ugh, where would I find the ‘wall-mounted dish rack’ part of that equation?

Then one day I was doing some {thrifty} retail therapy at a local thrift shop and I saw it– A WALL-MOUNTED PLATE RACK. I pounced before anyone else could grab it. Who knows, it was probably sitting there for weeks but I wasn’t going to take any chances. I was also quite pregnant at the time and pushing Noodle in the stroller, so I’m sure I was an interesting sight to behold– a mega-preggo {possibly waddling} mama balancing this huge dish rack in one hand and pushing a stroller with the other.

The Pottery Barn version, $99.

Here’s what I got:

:: The BEFORE photo ::

Here’s what I made:

:: The AFTER Photo ::

My version cost $6. The rack was about $3, spray paint $2, and the trim was on closeout at Walmart for .50/yard. BOOYAH!

It’s pretty self-explanatory, but here’s how I did it:

1. First, I had my husband remove a few of the dowels with a Dremel so that the books would fit better. I totally would have done it myself, but I was 9 months pregnant so getting leverage would have been tough.

2. Then, I had him spray paint it white (gosh, am I bossy or what? But spray painting is bad even when you aren’t incubating a baby, so I didn’t take any chances with the little one).

Note: To make it perfect, I should have filled the holes and then painted them, but it really looks fine without those details. I mean, it’s going in a boy’s room so I’m sure after it turns into a basketball hoop you won’t notice that I didn’t fill the hairline cracks with putty.

3. I added trim to go with the nautical theme. To keep it from fraying, I went over the ends of the trim with my glue gun to secure any loose strands.

The trim is very easy to remove if/when we change the décor of the room. I toyed with the idea of adding his name in vinyl to the bottom, but I’m glad I didn’t—with the books inside, they become the stars of the show and any additional touches may have made it look cluttered.

:: More AFTER Photos ::

That’s it! Plate rack to book rack in three easy steps. What fun touches would YOU add?

By the way, lightning does strike twice. I thought finding a plate rack was a once in a lifetime thing, until I found this last weekend for $1 at an estate sale: