How to Make an Invisible Bookshelf (Without Ruining a Book!)

by CaitlynLAG

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Intro: How to Make an Invisible Bookshelf (Without Ruining a Book!)

Okay, this has been what I have been occupying my time with the past day (Well, more like the past hour) But I made a tutorial on how to make an invisible bookshelf, without ruining a book (because I love my books dearly).
So first, I suppose you need supplies.

STEP 1:

You need a metal wall brace (The L-shaped metal thing with three holes) Mine happened to be a 5" X 1", but I suppose bigger would be cool too, (it would be stronger that way, but you don't want it to be longer than the width of the book or else you could see where it sticks out of the wall) just make sure the screws fit and can be flush with the metal. (My screws happened to be 12 X 1-1/2, but they might be different for you.) A stud finder (There's always a joke to that) is very handy, you need to make sure you drill through solid wood or it will tear up the wall and probably fall with the weight of the books. You need a drill, and also some velcro (The kind that can peel and stick to things)
AND OF COURSE A BOOK. I chose Pendragon, Amazing series, I still read it (after all these years!) and the author is a really nice guy! Can't go wrong with those books! (But the book you choose doesn't matter, obviously)

STEP 2:

Make sure when you choose the drill bit to drill with that it is a little smaller in diameter than the screw. If you hold the screw up behind the bit, you should be able to see the treads on both sides (like in the picture!)

STEP 3:

You need a hardcover book (To be the base layer) and if your books are like mine and have covers, and you're like me and like to keep the covers nice (and on the book) you can tape the inside flap of the cover (I've found that the invisible kind doesn't normally tear it up if you want to remove it) to the actual hardcover from the outside. Or you could just use a book with no cover and skip this whole step, haha.

STEP 4:

Now that the cover is out of the way (if you ever had that problem) take one of the sticky velcro strips and stick it right in the center of the back cover of the book. Stick another strip to one of the outside sides of the metal brace.

STEP 5:

Now, find a stud in the wall and mark it with a pencil (Try to stay towards the center of it because when you level it might require twisting the metal a bit and I was too close to the edge with this one and I only had one screw through the stud, the others went through just the drywall, haha)

STEP 6:

Make sure the brace is straight, AND ALSO MAKE SURE THAT THE VELCRO IS ON THE BOTTOM, FACING THE FLOOR. You can kinda see it in the picture, that little white thing under the metal.

STEP 7:

When you have it level (or sort of level) mark the holes, drill the top one first (make sure you go straight into the wall to avoid breaking off the bit)
I also found out that putting the top screw in the brace on the wall first before drilling the second hole is a lot easier, it makes it less difficult to keep it level. (But in the picture I had drilled both of the holes, it caused a lot of problems for me because they weren't level even though I tried, it was just harder overall.)
Drill the second hole after re-leveling and put the last screw in.

I found that using just two screws, on the top and bottom holes, works just as well, and it saves on screws. (I only put two on the others bookshelves I made, except on this bookshelf only one screw went through the stud and I put the other through drywall and added the extra, just in case)

STEP 8:

You can now set your book (with the back cover hanging down) on the brace. Once you have it on there, look under to match up the velcro on the cover and the brace and mush it together! It should hide the brace and also make the book a little more secure.

STEP 9:

Now you can stack them (the books)! It is a bit wobbly sometimes, make sure they are centered to avoid any mishaps. It might be better to have two brackets, but then again, studs aren't all that close to each other which is why (even though the brilliant idea hit me) I didn't attempt it.
TADA! Invisible bookshelf, and no book was harmed! The velcro comes off if you want it to, just pull the tab and the glue deactivates itself. And the book has no trouble closing all the way either, just in case you were wondering!

46 Comments

kysaundrap 3 years ago

Thanks for the tutorial. I was able to whip a set of these up super fast. I ended up using corner braces from the decking department. This gave them more stability. I also didnt want to put the velcro 9n my books so I used some hardcover journals from the bookstore.

Momma0411 8 years ago

Beautiful! I couldn't do the other kind either. I couldn't even bring myself to buy a book that i didn't care about to destroy in that fashion. Thank You so much for this instructable. Perfect!

pocketscience 12 years ago

Awesome idea so I made a few of these. The velco is OK but I found it didn't stick that well to some dust jackets - so I swapped them out for something even better and even more invisible! Small neodymium magnets (I used 8x1mm) that are taped inside the back cover (not to the dust cover) - and they then use the magical force of magnetism to hold the book shut to the bottom of the brackets!!

CaitlynLAG 10 years ago

That's awesome! (this comment is so late, I apologize!) Your idea is fantastic!

Voyager001 10 years ago

Inspired to make one. Thank you.

wildviolets 10 years ago

I love this idea...gonna do it.

aliaghoul 11 years ago

Your item is featured at http://momsbasement.org !
The direct link is below,
http://momsbasement.org/2013/04/03/diy/

Please stop by and leave a comment or two!

Thanks for crafting pure awesomeness!
- Alia and the Mom's Basement Team

CaitlynLAG 11 years ago

Thank you, that is wonderful! I appreciate it :)
Also, I must say, what an interesting blog! I'm following it with email and always enjoy reading the posts!

gord360 12 years ago

Hoorah for Pendragon!

Applebohn 11 years ago

My sentiments exactly :)

CaitlynLAG 12 years ago

Exactly! :D such a good series, read them in middle school, and now I'm reading them with my little brother, they're just the best!

static 11 years ago

This is the first I had seen a bracket like this where the are off center from each other. That makes sense when it attached to a stud so the hole don't align vertically making a stronger attachment to the stud. However it's going to mean care has to be taken to align the center of the bracket to the center of the stud, not alining to one hole to the stud and hoping the other screw will find the stud. The better stud finders help find the edge of the studs making the process easier to do correctly

static 11 years ago

Books are heavy, but I see the drywall anchor suggestions. Personally I would hang a shelf off anything but the wall studs. Also much easier to patch the holes screws leave behind than the holes left behind by anchors. A clever idea in using a books dust cover to hide the bracket. Unless all falls down tearing it, given the precarious support of this design.

GenAap 12 years ago

A great improvement from the original.

jimmytvf 12 years ago

how about instead the L bracket, put a metal plate in the bracket and will hold all the book without using velcro, like a L plus a T

thekookie 12 years ago

This was a brilliant idea!!!
I've been meaning to do this for a while, but without harming any of my precious books!! Your idea worked perfectly (I just made it)!! Although I didn't use the cover of my Harry Potter Books, I did use three brackets (two of which I used the EZ anchors) since they're all hardcover books which slightly adds more weight. Thank you so much for thinking this I thought I was doomed to ruin such a good book, but now I can't wait to make more!!

CaitlynLAG 12 years ago

Thank you!
I'm glad to hear that it worked well for you! I need to do the same thing, I need to stabilize mine still and also add that to the actual instructable, but I've been so busy with work and school! Haha, I will get around to it eventually!

Thank you also for following me! I'll see if I can get some other tutorials up so that you won't be following in vain! :D

thekookie 12 years ago

It wasn't in vain, this is a excellent Instructables!! I just finished making two more that I use as bedside tables since I can never seem to find the perfect bedside table!
And I can't wait to see what more you will come up with!!
Don't forget to update this Instructable later on in the future though.
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