DIY Hanging Book Holder
Emily from Table & Hearth is here with you today to share one of my favorite projects with you! If you’re anything like me, spring is a time for getting everything clean, neat, and tidy so there is a ton of organizing going on. Sometimes bins, boxes, and shelves just won’t work and you need a different kind of solution.
This DIY hanging book holder is the perfect way to stash books when you have small space or want to take advantage of some vertical space you have. It comes together in just an hour or so and is completely customizable!
There are minimal supplies, and zero sewing (yay!).
(12) screw eyes – I used #8
(6) large buttons
(3) 48″ 1/2″ wooden dowels – cut in half
(1) 45′ pkg cotton rope – I used 1/8″
(3) 20″x28″ pieces of fabric
needle and thread
scissors
disappearing ink pen
drill (not pictured)
fabric glue (not pictured)
To get the screw eyes into the ends of the wood easier and without them cracking too terribly, I predrilled holes in the ends of the dowels.
It is much easier to work on this while it’s hanging so I started by folding my rope into quarters, knotting it at the top (to make it stay even), then attaching it to a nail. You can make this as tall or as short as you’d like, as well as how wide.
I figured out where I wanted my first holder to start, looped one piece of rope through the eye, then knotted it with the other piece. I used the same two strands for the back dowels and the other two strands for the front dowels, all the way down. That way the front one can be pulled away from the back one.
For the fabric holders, I used a tape measure to see how deep I wanted my pocket to be and how far the overhangs needed to be, which gave me my overall length of 28″. I wanted some of the dowels to show so my width was 20″. Again, you can totally change the dimensions to fit your space.
I found this flocked chevron print felt and had to have it, but had to do a little more planning since it had a pattern and was plain on one side. I made sure to cut my pieces so the pattern matched and would be on the front of the holders. The top of the piece is attached with buttons while the front is attached with fabric glue. Gotta give props to the husband for picking the perfect color buttons on this!
The slings can of course be sewn instead of glued/buttoned, and in that case, slip them on first then start hanging the dowels on your ropes.
My slings are about 9″ deep from the lower dowel. If you need to store smaller books (like children’s books), you can make them shorter. You can also add a small strip of fabric around the sides to keep them from sliding out if you’d like.
This can be hung from a knob or hook on the wall (using anchors if in drywall!) but can also be hung on the back of a door or on the side of a piece of furniture if wall space is at a minimum. I absolutely love how they came out and fully plan to make some of these for myself at some point 🙂
Susan B
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Hi,
Could you please help me. I love your DIY book hanger idea. I’ve completed the dowling and now I’m trying to sort out the rope. I’m at a loss at where to begin. Firstly I’m confused at the length required for this project 45″ does not look correct. Then do you fold the string into quarters or have 4 seperate ropes? Please help. …
Thank you
Kind regards
Liz ☺