DIY Bookshelf

While moving into our new home, we asked all of our helpers to pile the boxes into the office. It worked out nicely since the office is right off of the front door, it also saved a lot of time and confusion. From there, we would take the boxes and unload them in the appropriate room. The downside is that when it was all said and done, we still had those lingering boxes that didn't really have a place. Sooooo, they sat, and sat, annnnnnd sat. My husband waited patiently for his office to be unburied. Finally, when he was away at training, I tackled the dumping grounds!

(Restoration's $1375 version)

A large portion of the boxes were full of old books that have been in his family for generations. I knew they were special to him, and wanted to give him a way to display them.

After looking around, I found this industrial looking shelf at Restoration Hardware and fell in love!

Next came the big challenge...how to recreate the $1375 shelf on a tight budget.

(My $150 version)

I headed outside to my stash of barn board and found some that were just the right width.

Next, I found some steel casters for the base for only $5 each at a local discount store.

I then headed to The Home Depot where I purchased 16 lengths of threaded galvanized pipe (each at 18" long), 8 threaded flange fittings for the top and bottom, and 12 couplings.  

Here is where things got a little tricky.

The easiest way to do this would have been to bypass the couplings and just buy 32 flange fittings for each place where a pipe needed to join to the wood shelf; however, the flange fittings are much more expensive than the couplings and that would have put me way over budget.

My fix was to drill holes in the corners of the middle three shelves, slide the pipe through the hole and let the shelf rest on the coupling below. I know that sounds super confusing, and if anyone is interested, I would be happy to do a tutorial with better pics and instructions!

What I Wore Wednesday:

Linking up with Lindsey at The Pleated Poppy



Playing at the Park with Reese and picking Raegen up from School

Jacket: Sadly, it's so old I can't remember where I got it, but i LOVE it

Flower pin: off of a different jacket that I got at Old Navy

Blue top: Old Navy

Gray Tank underneath: Ross Dress for Less

Jeans: DKNY

Shoes: Naturalizer. These are my new fave! The are cute, comfy, and have a sole that holds up to our rainy, Oregon climate.

Bracelet: Made by The Farrier's Daughter it is a vintage silver spoon that I shaped on an anvil, and stamped the word, "LOVE"