DIY forward-facing bookshelves for kids

Children's books have a problem on a normal bookshelf: all you see is a row of thin spines, so the kids can't see what's there, never pick anything out and the books never get read. This quick build fixes that with DIY forward-facing bookshelves that display each book cover-out, so little ones can see what they want and grab it themselves.

Building the shelves from plywood

The shelves are made from plywood cut on the table saw and assembled with screws. Once the carcass was together I sanded everything down and filled the screw holes on the front so they would disappear under the paint.

The edge-banding trick for painted plywood

The trick that makes plywood look good when painted is edge banding. I used an iron-on pine edge banding on all the exposed edges. Without it, the end grain of the plywood layers soaks up paint and ends up looking rough; with it, you get a smooth, solid-looking edge that takes paint just like the faces.

For the finish I used a white primer and undercoat followed by a white satin top coat, then fixed the shelves to the wall. The result is a slim, simple unit that turns the books themselves into the display.

A good first plywood project

It's a genuinely easy project and a good one to try if you're just getting started with plywood and a few basic tools. Most of the video is a build montage set to music, so this write-up covers the main steps rather than a detailed cut list.

If you like this one, try the upcycled kids' chair or the under-stairs storage drawers.