August's Room

Organizing August’s Books

August Reading, Eleanor Playing

August is really into books lately. We used to keep all of his baby board books in a box on the floor, between the glider and the wall. As his interest (and collection) has grown, the books have been overspilling and taking over that whole area. Books were scattered everywhere, and we needed to get organized.

Board Books in a Box

Stacks of Kids' Books

The storage in August’s room mainly consists of two Effektiv units from IKEA (now discontinued), side-by-side. Here’s a shot of them from when I first shared his nursery.

August's Nursery

The unit on the right suffered a little at the hands of one very active little boy, and so the doors didn’t stay aligned anymore when shut. I removed the doors and hinges, emptied everything out (there wasn’t much in there anymore), and adjusted the shelves to work for our books. That side of the room looked cluttered though, with the open bookshelves right next to the shallow built-in shelves with toys.

Shelves in August's Room

I wanted the changing pad to stay on the left side, but it was attached by its safety straps. I reattached them to the other unit, then swapped their order. Now I can still store extra diapers, wipes, and assorted other supplies behind doors, and we have a place for August’s growing library too.

August's New Bookshelf

Kids' Books

I think I’m going to find a new spot for that black and white rug (it’s just not soft enough for a little kid’s room), so I’ll probably bring back the off-white rug that was in the space before. Eventually the glider won’t be needed anymore, and we’ll have space for a play table or just more space for playing. I’ve been having a lot of fun with the planning stage, but we don’t want to rush August out of his crib before he’s ready.

Reach!

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  • Nicole O
    March 4, 2013 at 2:18 pm

    Wow, kindred spirits! We were just rearranging books this morning as well..

  • Ida
    March 4, 2013 at 2:27 pm

    Looks great! It’s so funny that I posted about books today as well. It’s awesome that he is into books and one day he will grow to be an excellent reader!!

  • jenn aka the picky girl
    March 4, 2013 at 2:30 pm

    So awesome! I love that your kiddo loves books since I’m primarily a book blogger. I’m constantly rearranging my books. :)

    I like that you switched the sides. It really does look more purposeful that way.

  • Andrea Howe
    March 4, 2013 at 2:48 pm

    kid’s books are one of those things that are always a work in progress it seems! But I guess that’s okay if it means they’re getting lots of use. And you’ll have to add Patricelli’s Yummy Yucky to your collection, our fave by the author :)

    • Making it Lovely
      March 4, 2013 at 3:32 pm

      Oh, we’ll have to grab that one then!

  • liz
    March 4, 2013 at 3:00 pm

    A kid can never have too many books! The bookshelf looks great! (and I love the tippytoe shot!)

  • jbhat
    March 4, 2013 at 3:25 pm

    Love the wee reader. Love his room too.

    I’ve become a recent victor in my little one’s bedtime battles. She transitioned out of her crib 6 months ago. And for six months (!), she had been getting up out of bed after the whole stories/songs/snuggling routine was over, wanting this or that, or to socialize, or to just be UP. It was driving us nuts and we all grew to dread her bedtime, since it had turned into an exhausting battles of wills. Several weeks ago, I had a lightbulb moment: stop fighting it. She too is a book lover, and apparently, three stories from me at bedtime just wasn’t enough. I decided to let her use a flashlight to read her books in bed after we kissed goodnight, but with the caveat that she stay in bed. So now she stays up a bit later on her own, and so far, it’s worked like a charm. When I go in to check on her later, she is crashed out, surrounded by books, with the flashlight close by. She even turns it off. I’m sad that it took me so long to come up with this plan, but am glad that it’s working out.

    jbhat

    • Making it Lovely
      March 4, 2013 at 3:31 pm

      Funny — I just had a similar experience with August! He’s pretty good about going to sleep at night now, but lately he has been very specific about what he needs with him. The other night, he just had to have a book. I went back up to check on him later, and he was just hanging out in bed, reading by the glow of his Dreamlite. I told him goodnight and he went to sleep eventually on his own.

      I suspect we’ll probably take the same approach you did.

      • jbhat
        March 4, 2013 at 10:33 pm

        Just not in half a year. : )

        jbhat

  • Catherine
    March 4, 2013 at 6:58 pm

    Such a sweet post and I love those pink baby feet! My older son likes to fall asleep looking at books, too.

  • Jenny@Simcoe Street
    March 4, 2013 at 7:35 pm

    I love kids’ books. Our son Benjamin has a collection that August’s reminds me of. We are just moving into our place so haven’t set them up, but your post makes me excited to!

    The kiddos are so cute!

    Jenny
    http://www.simcoestreet.blogspot.com

  • Snowflake
    March 4, 2013 at 9:15 pm

    I gave my niece the “Heads” book for Christmas and she loves it. I enjoyed seeing that August has a collection of the series! They’re such entertaining books.

  • Sammy
    March 5, 2013 at 12:06 am

    Looks great!! so sweet

  • Megan @ Rappsody in Rooms
    March 5, 2013 at 7:55 am

    It’s so fun to watch the evolution of children’s rooms, which need to change pretty frequently. I love seeing design elements in their rooms but also being very functional!

  • Wendy @ New Moms Talk
    March 5, 2013 at 11:07 am

    Way to go, August, on being a reader!

    Our little girl’s books are also in need of help! There’s the slew of baby ones, the Spanish ones, and a few others.

    One of my favorite kids books is Daisies and Raindrops Sonnets for Children by Scott Ennis. The rhythm of the iambic meter combined with the lessons in the sonnets is dynamic and inspiring!

    Those books all come alive at night during special Daddy-Daughter reading time which inspires me (as I write this) to create a better space for them.

  • Adri
    March 5, 2013 at 11:38 am

    Great post! Time for me to organize my 18 month old’s books…

  • Christine
    March 5, 2013 at 12:55 pm

    his lamp is to die for!

  • Trisha
    March 7, 2013 at 3:55 pm

    book storage is a CONSTANT battle at our home. I can’t count how many times that I’ve tried to return books borrowed from pre-school to our local library, and that library books end up in “our” shelves. Finally got the materials to make the fabric ‘sling bookshelf’ I saw on Pinterest over a year ago, and plan to keep anything borrowed in one spot. Wish us luck! Oh, and the getting out of bed thing…I told my daughter that if she ever wanders out of bed alone (unless its an emergency like she’s sick or something) the crib comes right back.

  • Lauren
    March 10, 2013 at 2:15 pm

    Nicole you just inspired me to go upstairs and deal with a big mess! Usually you inspire me to spend money! Not sure I’m too happy with you right now!

  • Kate
    March 16, 2013 at 10:57 pm

    I’m a librarian (and a children’s librarian at that!), and we have a lot of books. I have two 5×5 expedits in the basement that I keep the books in. I rotate the books up to my daughter’s room in groups of about 20. Picture books go on the 1×4 expedit that lays on its side in her room (cheap montessori style shelving). Board books go in baskets. Library books are there too, but with only about 20 books of ours out at a time, it’s not as hard to keep track of the library books. It makes for very easy cleanup. Tessa has no problem putting board books back in the basket, and is learning how to put the picture books back oriented the correct way in the book shelf (spine out, right side up). It reduced the previous problem of million-book-pick-up every day or twice a day.

    It’s odd for a librarian to say, but I do think that there is such a thing as too many books, just like I believe there is such a thing as too many toys. It is overwhelming to be presented with hundreds of choices at any one time, and I think paring down the collection and rotating helps kids focus and stick with what they are doing for longer.

    Now, if I could just stick to a good rotation schedule. ;)

  • Kerry
    March 26, 2013 at 8:01 pm

    Love all the books! My son is only 10 months, but we have quite the collection already.

    Can you tell me where you got the August train on the top shelf of his built-ins? Looks like a fun birthday present for my little one. Thanks!

  • Diaper Storage in the Nursery | Making it Lovely
    May 8, 2013 at 1:04 pm

    […] showed his room not too long ago, when I took the doors off of one of the storage units in the space to convert it […]

  • Sa
    May 9, 2013 at 10:30 am

    Hey! I see that you have the changing pad just lying on the chest of drawers, doesn’t it slip off or something? I was thinking of doing the same but everyone thinks its dangerous.
    Thanks!

    • Making it Lovely
      May 9, 2013 at 10:40 am

      It’s attached, with safety straps screwed into the wood at the back (facing the wall).