Paige’s DIY Vinyl Record Bookshelf

Materials for the Bookcase:

• Follow any instructions that come from the manufacturer about putting the bookcase together. This will also give you a list of tools.

Materials for the Project:

• Electric drill with a ¼” drill bit
• Machine screws with nuts (You can get this in the combo pack of 100 pieces) I used #10-24 x ¾” (That is the width and thread of the screw, plus the length of the screw which is ¾” long) $5.58
• Phillips head screwdriver or Phillips head attachment for your drill
• 12 ½ x 12 ½ “ frame for records (I used Gladsax from Ikea) $4.99
• Vinyl records with or without their Album Covers
• 8 Fabric Boxes 13”x15”x13” (I used Drona from Ikea) $5.99
• 2 Pieces of wood: Poplar ¼” thick by 3” wide by 4’ long $3.88
• Saw to cut the wood (this can be electric saw or hand saw…or better yet, ask your local hardware store to cut them for you. They will need to be 12” long each – 8 pieces total.)
• Pencil

Directions:

1. Put together your bookcase. If you are using one you already have, then great! You are done with this step! For the rest of us, put the ol’ bookshelf together.
2. Put together your fabric boxes. These usually come in a collapsible form and are easy to assemble.
3. Take the back panel of the frames off and set aside. Insert the Album Cover.
4. Take the back panel of the frame and drill a hole in the center of the width 1” down from the top and 1” above the bottom of where you will add your hardware.
5. Place one screw in each hole and place the back panel onto the frame with the screws facing towards you (the heads of the screws will be flush between the album cover and the back panel of the frame). Secure back panel into place.
6. Take your piece of 12” wood and place it in the inside center of the front of your fabric box. (This will help add a foundation to hold your frame in place.) You can tape this in place or have a friend hold it for you.
7. Mark with a pencil where the screws will enter the fabric box and wood.
8. Remove the frame and set aside. Drill through the fabric box and through the piece of wood. (Once you get the hang of it and do a few of these, you can pre-drill the holes so that you are not doing it in place and they are already ready to go!)
9. Thread the screws on the back of the frame through your holes in the fabric box and the piece of wood. Secure them by placing a nut around the screw and tightening in place by hand.
10. Place your box into the cubby hole. This looks like an art piece from the front, but the records in their frames will actually serve as drawers (in a sense) that you can fill with additional records, or anything else you might need stored away.

Tips:

1. You can place the entire Album Cover in the frame, or just use the actual records. You can mix it up!
2. From a design standpoint, you don't need to cover each cubby since it might be cute to fill it with other things.

3. The bookcase I got at Ikea was $65.00. So if you started from scratch and wanted to fill every cubby hole, here is the breakdown:

   - Bookshelf $64.99 x 1 = $64.99
   - Frame $ 4.99 x 8 = $39.92
   - Fabric Box $ 5.99 x 8 = $47.92
   - Wood $ 3.88 x 2 = $ 7.76
   - Screws $ 5.58 x 1 = $ 5.58

   Total: $166.17

4. The best part about this is that you can take a current bookshelf and transform it, or not fill as many cubby holes and you will save the cash. If you had your own bookcase, and wanted to fill every cubby, it would cost you about $100. To make it easy, if you were just doing one cubby hole with one album, it would cost you about $12.50. Making memories like these, however, is PRICELESS!

Return to Episode Guide >>

Follow lifestyle design expert Paige Hemmis on Twitter @paigehemmis and check out her site www.paigehemmis.com.