Doorway to Bookshelf Transformation
The past month I have been completely absorbed in helping my sister open a maternity store in central Minnesota. As she renovated, the space she wanted my help the most with was the kids play area. I was tasked with changing a doorway that did not serve a purpose within the new layout. We decided a doorway to bookshelf transformation would be a clever solution!
This is the space amidst renovation. The doorway you see here leads to the utility room. Clearly we wanted this enclosed since there was a different utility room entrance my sister could use. We started by painting all the wainscoting and trim gloss white. We cleaned and primed it first, then applied two coats of paint.
When we were done with hours of painting, this is what the space looked like.
Installing Plywood
Next we cut our wood, starting with a large sheet of plywood to fit the back. We nailed this into the door casing from behind.
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I had help from my sister’s friends that were already working on other construction projects in the store. They graciously cut all the wood for me so I didn’t even have to use my table saw!
To attach shelves inside the doorway, I was planning to drill pocket holes with my Kreg jig and make them floating. However, in cutting the shelves we discerned the doorway was not square nor parallel. This made it more feasible to create a shelving method that would allow for wiggle room. Enter slats.
Installing Slats As Shelf Supports
We cut 1 inch wide slats and screwed them into the wood door casing with two screws. Each shelf measured 16″ apart.
This method is actually how I installed shelves to organize closets in my home, too.
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Next we set the shelves on top. We added little nails down through the shelf into the slats so that the shelf wouldn’t slide off or move. After touching up paint we were ready to style them!
Doorway to Bookshelf Transformation
The bookshelves look so great! I love this built-in look and how useful the storage space is now. As a whole the playroom rocks!
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Don’t forget to pin this idea!
Be sure to check out my sister’s maternity store online where they sell clothes and products for moms. Thanks for reading my doorway to bookshelf transformation and I will be back soon to show you what I’m building for my house! If you liked this interior upgrade DIY and want to see more, my post on how to lay self leveling concrete is a great place to start!
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