BOOKS: D-I-Y for N-E-R-D-S

What do you do with those books that you can't sell, give away, or otherwise get rid of? If you're anything like me, the thought of chucking books in the garbage makes your pacemaker act up like crazy. And if you're anything like me, this means you have a fair number of literary albatrosses taking up precious real estate on your shelves.

So how about a plan for taking those books and using them to create MORE SHELF SPACE?

Is that not the most brilliant idea you've ever seen? The genius behind it is crafty Craftster member McJulie-O, who suffered from exactly the dilemma described above. Not one to complain (unlike, say, me), McJulie-O designed and built her own custom solution. She provides instructions piecemeal on the Craftster discussion boards, but for your ease of use, I've compiled her directions here in (hopefully) easy-to-follow steps.

1. Well, you start with books that have nice covers but no future, and you're going to want to "gut" them (except for the two end books, which need to have pages showing on the end to verify that they are real books).
2. Use a band saw to cut the pages and then a craft knife to separate them from the spine.
3. [The shelf is] attached to the wall by a pair of picture hangers placed stud distance apart, so the anchoring screws can be attached to studs behind the sheetrock. The books cut into supports on the bottom are mostly decorative although they might prevent the shelf from torquing or twisting off the wall.

If you're more of a visual person, then the step-by-step photos that McJulie-O provides here may be more useful. Even I get how it all goes together. The hard part is going to be convincing Rusty that he wants to make it for me. And then buying a cottage to put it in.

(Thanks to Kat for the link!)