DIY bookends to spruce up & organize your kid’s room

I know that my children must not be the only children out there with mountains of books that pile up and fall over. Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled that my kiddos love to read…less thrilled about the organization of this love for reading so I went to task building some super easy, functional, and stylish mountain top bookends for my kids.

The great thing about these bookend is that they work for both girls and boys, are made of scrap wood, and require very few tools to complete. I will share how I made this version and how you can make yours if you are missing any of these tools, and of course if at the end of the day you think they are super cute but don’t want to make your own be sure to check out our mountain top project pile kit for your own supplies because our mission here is to encourage and support you in your DIY journey.

To get started you will need to gather your materials and tools.

• (1) piece of scrap 2×6 at least 8″ in length
• (1) piece of scrap 2×4 at least 6″ in length
• Chalk or Acrylic Paint, Stain, or Wax
• Paintbrush, sponge, or cloth (depending on finish)
• Bandsaw (but other types of saws will work like a jigsaw, chop saw, or table saw)
• Sandpaper &/or sander
• Wood Glue
• Clamp

For this example I have an 8″ and a 6″ mountain. You can cut your pieces to whatever heights you prefer but you will need your bookends to be heavy enough to actually hold books up and you will want some distance in height between the two pieces of wood to get the double snow capped mountain look. So step one is cutting your scrap wood to size. Cut the 2×6 at 8″ and the 2×4 at 6″. At this stage you may want to sand your block a bit if needed. My scrap wood needed a bit of sanding to remove the black ink marks of the manufacture and some dents. You can skip this step if you want to. You will need to sand a bit after cutting as well so you can sand at that step, I just find it easier to sand the larger the piece of wood is.

Next, using a bandsaw cut diagonally across the scrap wood. I like using the bandsaw because it allows me to add some texture to the mountain with little effort. If you don’t have a band saw you can use a table saw or chop saw, you will just get a much straighter cut and your mountain will be much more like a perfectly cut triangle. Don’t worry though, you can add some texture with sandpaper. After cutting your pieces in half diagonally sand the cut edges smooth. If you need or want to add texture to the mountain sides you can do so here at this stage. Since I used a bandsaw my mountains have some nice terrain to them.

Now you get to customize the look. My son choose to do a dark green and then a lighter green for his mountains while my daughter went with black and white. We used acrylic paint to paint our mountains. We knew we were adding the white snow caps to the tops so the kids painted most of the triangle. It is up to you on how much to paint. We painted everything except the bottom and the edge that would be touching the books. You may need more than one coat of paint. Sand in between coats if necessary, or sand at the end to give a light distressed look. Add snow caps to the tops of the mountains for a finishing touch.

After the paint has completely dried you will want to bust out your wood glue and clamps. I prefer to glue the mountains together for strength and weight but you could skip this step if you wanted to. Apply wood glue to the smaller of the two mountains, then press together with large mountain paying special attention to lining up the bottom and edge that will be holding the books. Once you get them adjusted, clamp in place. Remove any excess wood glue. I like to use a super small flat head screwdriver and damp paper towel to clean up any extra wood glue. Let set for 24 hours.

Once the glue is dried, remove clamps. You are ready to style your kiddos books and tackle the organization of shelves and bookcases. I hope you have enjoyed this short tutorial on how to add a bit of charm to your kids rooms. If mountains are quite your style you can check out these other great DIY bookends here.

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Snowcapped Mountain Bookends

decor ideas: DIY | farmhouse decor | kids craft | kids room | shelf sitter

Author: Kristina

Equipment

• Bandsaw or jigsaw
• Clamp
• Sandpaper

Materials

• 1 2×6 piece of wood at least 8" long
• 1 2×4 piece of wood at least 6" long
• acrylic or chalk paint (or stain) & paintbrush any color, plus white for snowcaps

Instructions

• For this example I have an 8" and a 6" mountain. You can cut your pieces to whatever heights you prefer but you will need your bookends to be heavy enough to actually hold books up and you will want some distance in height between the two pieces of wood to get the double snow capped mountain look. So step one is cutting your scrap wood to size. Cut the 2×6 at 8" and the 2×4 at 6".
• At this stage you may want to sand your block a bit if needed. My scrap wood needed a bit of sanding to remove the black ink marks of the manufacture and some dents. You can skip this step if you want to. You will need to sand a bit after cutting as well so you can sand at that step, I just find it easier to sand the larger the piece of wood is.
• Next, using a bandsaw cut diagonally across the scrap wood. I like using the bandsaw because it allows me to add some texture to the mountain with little effort. If you don't have a band saw you you can try a jigsaw as they will allow you to add uneven terrain to the side of your mountain.
• After cutting your pieces in half diagonally, sand the cut edges smooth. If you need or want to add texture to the mountain sides you can do so here at this stage. Since I used a bandsaw my mountains have some nice terrain to them.
• Now you get to customize the look. Using acrylic or chalk paint (or stain if you prefer) to paint the mountains. You may need more than one coat of paint. Sand in between coats if necessary, or sand at the end to give a light distressed look. Add snow caps to the tops of the mountains for a finishing touch.
• After the paint has completely dried you will want to bust out your wood glue and clamps. I prefer to glue the mountains together for strength and weight but you could skip this step if you wanted to. Apply wood glue to the smaller of the two mountains, then press together with large mountain paying special attention to lining up the bottom and edge that will be holding the books. Once you get them adjusted, clamp in place. Remove any excess wood glue. I like to use a super small flat head screwdriver and damp paper towel to clean up any extra wood glue. Let set for 24 hours.
• Once the glue is dried, remove clamps. You are ready to style your books and tackle the organization of shelves and bookcases.