Sick of that old bookcase, standing tall, but half empty? Throw those few books onto another bookshelf and turn that eyesore bookcase into a cool new furniture piece for a child’s bedroom. Okay, I don’t know for sure that your bookcase is an eyesore, but it certainly won’t be when you make it into a kid’s bench and storage unit. When you take the bookcase to the child’s bedroom you create a nice seating arrangement for playing games, or entertaining friends. Plus, you end up with compartments for storing shoes, games, books, and more.
The perfect bookcase for making a storage bench is one that is somewhat tall, but not very wide. A good width for the bookcase – for a child – is somewhere around 15 inches. It could be a little more narrow, or a little wider, than that number. The height of the bookcase can vary but, the longer it is, the longer the bench will be. Turn the bookcase on one side, with the openings facing you, and push the back of the bookcase against a wall.
If you don’t want to prolong the project, just use the bookcase as it is; you also have an option to paint it. Most bookcases are brown – maybe not the color you seek for accents in your child’s room. Whether you paint it or not, you can embellish each compartment with pieces of wallpaper, shelf liner, or even fabric. Just glue the material to the sides, back, and/or bottom of each compartment. Or, leave the compartments as they are and kids can go ahead and start putting their stuff in the compartments.
To make the bookcase into a comfortable bench you’ll need a cushion or pillows. You have many options for that. You can measure the top of the bench, and sew a cushion to be that size. Or, purchase a lounge chair cushion. Another choice is to just align pillows, side-by-side, along the length of the bench. Cushions will stay put if you use double-sided tape, which can be stuck to the top of the bench. Or, use peel-n-stick Velcro, on top of the bench, and on the bottom of each cushion.
A bookcase might not look all that impressive as it is, but after you turn it into a bedroom bench, it’s a substantial furniture piece, which is useful in more than one way. Make one for a bedroom, a mud room, an entryway, or even a kitchen.
