Turning the bonus room closet into a Children’s Closet Library is one of those projects that took longer than expected. Not because the work was harder, but because I took a break from the project for many months while other things took precedence. I’m thrilled to have this project complete and am ready to move on to something new.
Converting a closet in our bonus room into a children’s library started when my oldest son commented that he wanted me to add onto our house and build a library like the one in A Series of Unfortunate Events.
Obviously I had no desire to add onto our home. But, I began to form a plan about where I could add a library in our home. It became clear when I opened the toy closet in the bonus room and found myself getting angry that it was (once again) a mess. As I began clearing a path on the floor of the closet, it occurred to me that 90% of the toys in the closet were for young children and my boys had outgrown them. Time to clear out the closet and repurpose it for my book worms.
After removing the faux wood panels, I uncovered a mess of wiring and rewired a new light fixture into the closet. Some idiot had never put the wiring inside the wall, instead the guilty party wrapped the wires around the studs (NOT TO CODE!) Instead of re-routing all the wiring, I furred out a new wall to encase the wiring.
While the walls were open, I decided to install a new light fixture and a switch (instead of the annoying bare bulb fixture with a pull chain.)
After adding some much needed insulation, the fun began! I cut a hole into the wall between my son’s bedroom closet and the bonus room closet. I think we felt a little bit like the astronauts the first time they docked to the International Space Station and saw the Russian astronauts though the hatch.
Before adding drywall, everyone had to test the pass through (humans and canines alike.)
After I installed the drywall and painted, the boys and I drew some messages on the subfloor. We love leaving little notes and time capsules in our construction projects.
The flooring was definitely a popular addition to this closet. I wish you could feel it.
I purchased a fluffy shag chenille rug at Lowe’s that was used to create wall-to-wall carpeting in the closet.
The final steps on the closet library was to add furniture and artwork.
To create bookshelves, I used several IKEA Room Essentials cube storage units. Each unit is anchored to studs on the wall to prevent tipping.
Two – 3 Cube Towers on the bottom, One – 6 Cube Shelves, and One – 3-2-1 Cube Organizer Shelf.
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After the shelves were filled. I trimmed the secret pass through and added hinges and a door on my son’s bedroom side.
This allows him to lock the door for privacy. A simple window lock worked perfectly for this purpose. Then the boys quality tested my work on the pass through.
Bandit found the pass through very intriguing.
Eventually he gave his stamp of approval.
Even though the closet has overhead lighting, I added a small side table and lamp for a cozy feel.
This is the best view of the children’s library closet. (It’s incredibly hard to photograph a closet!)
The cube storage shelves are the perfect height to accommodate most of their books.
My 12 year old son filled and styled the shelves (honest!) He even added some teddy bears like the elementary school library has. So cute!
My boys have spent so much time burrowing in this library closet. I frequently find them in there reading, especially when I’m calling them to do chores.
Here’s a final peek into the children’s library closet:
Do you have a small closet or nook in your home that can be used as a children’s library? It’s amazing how an ordinary closet can turn into something extraordinary.
If you liked this renovation, you’ll definitely love my son’s closet turned reading nook.
