I have seen these rain gutter bookshelves several places online and have always thought they would be wonderful to have in our book loving home. Then I saw them at my friend Heather’s house, asked if she liked them, how easy they were to clean, etc. and I finally decided to take the plunge.
The theory behind these rain gutter book shelves is that they encourage children to read more because they can see the fronts of the books and are intrigued, rather than just seeing the edge of the book and not being able to tell what it is about. Our children have always read a lot, but the little ones are reading even more since we installed these shelves.
The first day that the shelves were in, my two year old, upon waking from his nap, grabbed a book and came running out asking me to read it to him. All the children are reading more of our books and several of the older ones were heard saying, “Oh, I forgot we had that book, it’s one of my favorites” about a book that had 
been on the book shelves in their bedroom for the past year or so! These rain gutter book shelves also make it easy for little ones to put the books back away properly and that makes mommy happy!
Rain gutter shelves won’t hold a ton of books, not nearly as many as the same space used for traditional shelving. However, they certainly are prettier and much easier for young children to help themselves without making a mess. Plus, our children are reading the books that are on the rain gutter shelving more than they ever read them when they were shelved more traditionally in their bedrooms.
I installed rain gutter shelves by each child’s bed to give our room-sharing children some space to keep their favorite books and stuffed animals.
Since Mark has been so amazingly busy with his job and since I was too impatient to wait until he had some free time, I installed the shelves myself. They were quick and easy to install. I did both of the children’s bedrooms in an afternoon and did the shelves in the hall (top picture) in a couple hours.
Here are my perfectionist, not-very familiar-with-power-tools instructions for installing your own rain gutter book shelves.
Items needed:
- Vinyl rain gutters – Our rain gutter shelves are all 5 feet or 2 1/2 feet long and the gutters come in 10 foot lengths.
- Brackets for the rain gutters – I used either 2 or 3 brackets per 5 feet of shelving depending on how much use I thought the shelf would get.
- End caps for the rain gutters. Be sure to get the appropriate number of right and left end caps.
- Wood screws that will fit through the hole in the brackets.
- Hack saw
- Sand paper
- Sharpie marker
- Tape measure
- Drill
- Level
- Marking pencil
- Stud finder – unless you are good at the whole hammer tap/listening thing
- Spackle and paint – You only need this when you mess up.
1. Decide the length that you want your shelf to be. Measure and mark this length on the shelf with the Sharpie. Since I’m one of those perfectionist types and not so handy with a hack saw, I measured and marked six different places around the gutter and then connected the dots so that I had a solid line to cut on.
2. Cut the rain gutter with the hack saw. I did this part on our stairs. The carpet held the gutter still and I had space to saw between the steps. It worked for me!
3. Sand the cut edges smooth. Yes, you could probably skip this step since you will be covering the ends with an end cap, but it’s that perfectionist thing again. Good thing Mark does most of the projects around our house.
4. Decide where you want to put the shelves and find and mark the studs. Find a stud that is close to where you want one end of the shelf to be and that will be within the shelf area. Mark with your marking pencil. Now find the studs within the next 5 foot area (if that is the length of shelf that you are installing) or just find the stud on the other end of that 5 foot stretch. (HINT: Typically studs should be every 16″.)
5. Determine the height that you want the top of the shelf to be and mark that point on one of the studs that will be close to the end of the shelf.
6. Using the wood screw and the drill, screw a bracket into the point that you just marked. HINT: If the screw will not drill all the way into the wall and you think that perhaps you hit a nail head (it is possible), well, before you drill another hole a little higher than the first and it still won’t go in and certainly before you drill a third hole and still can’t get the screw to go into the stud, have your 12-year old daughter check to make certain that the drill is set to screw things IN rather than to screw things OUT.
Not I would know anything about that, I’m just thinking that it is excellent that I know how to Spackle and paint! 
7. Level the shelf. Place the gutter onto the bracket that is already screwed into the wall and place another bracket onto the opposite end of the gutter. Now balance or hold a level on the gutter and adjust until everything is level. Then mark where you will screw your next hole on the stud that is closest to the other end of your gutter.
8. Screw the bracket into the stud at the marked height. Tuh duh! You should have a shelf on your wall. Now depending on where you’ve installed the shelf or how long it is, you may want to put on additional brackets. If so…
9. Install additional brackets for stability. This is simply a matter of sliding them onto the gutter and making sure that you hit a stud when you screw them in.
10. Glue on the end caps.
11. Repeat steps 1-10 for additional shelves. I found that 12″-16″ from the top rim of one gutter to the top rim of the other was sufficient for even our tallest books, but measure for yourself and see what looks good to you.
I’d love to see your version of rain gutter shelves, just leave a link in the comments.
I added close up pictures of the brackets and end caps here .
Check out some of my other DIY tutorials.
Wonder Why We Homeschool, or How We Homeschool with 10 children? How do we fit everything in, save money or keep our sense of humor? You can find these topics and more by checking out the category bar at the top of the page.
For ideas to fill up your bookshelves, check out Mandy’s book review blog To Read, Or Not To Read.
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Oh, I love this idea better than anything so far! I especially like the hallway idea. What a great way to have a “children’s” library. Just wondering, have you had any little ones try to climb it yet? : )
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And that lime green wall looks familiar! The last THREE houses we’ve lived in, our girls have had a lime green wall. I think I’m done with that for awhile!
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these are so cute!!! i am definitely going to do these! you have such great ideas!!!
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Sounds good. I can’t imagine letting my kids read books they got from the gutter though.
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Raising Olives Reply:
July 30th, 2009 at 8:02 am
Nicki,
No one has tried to climb on them. I think they would be very difficult to climb as they sit so close to the wall.
Home School Dad,
I’m going to have to rethink our standard for books.
Julie,
No issues with sturdiness. They do sell heavy duty gutters if your concerned.
Smockity,
I would do house calls, providing you pay travel expenses and put me up in a post hotel and…
TrenchMommy,
When I do it, I just climb on top of the bed, but I don’t do it very often. I plan to post more in a question/answer post.
My kids make the bunk beds.
Thanks everyone!!
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LOVE THIS IDEA!! I would love to do this project, but we’ll see how much it costs here at an OBI…or if I can find something similiar for a cheaper price! Great POST!
I know the children love that their books are available to them an arms reach away!! 
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OH! I think this is a fantastic idea! Our kids could really use more room in their bedroom for books. This is JUST the trick!
THANKS FOR SHARING!
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I love this idea. I think this will be a great addition to Froggy’s room when we redo it with her big girl bed.
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I would never have thought of that! What a good idea!
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I’ve seen this many times before but I don’t think I’ve ever thought of putting it right next to the bed like that. Maybe that would keep my oldest from kicking off his pile of books in the middle of the night?
BTW, you made me laugh when you said my lists made you feel guilty. How do I get it all done? Oh please!
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What a great idea! I even happen to have almost everything we need already. I can’t wait to show my husband this idea when he gets home tonight.
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I love this!! Putting this on the to-do list! Thanks for sharing.
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Love this idea! However, we don’t have many of the things needed and I can’t forsee myself having the guts to attempt to do it alone! But I do have a question…how do you keep your kids beds made so neat…especially the bunk beds against the wall? I have ours in the Middle of the room because I can’t make it unless I can get to 3 of the 4 sides (2 being the long sides!). Silly, I know…but please tell me your tips!
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You are SO handy and dandy! I’ll repeat what everyone else is thinking. I LOVE THIS IDEA! Who needs Martha Stewart? I’ll take Kimberly, please. Do you make house calls?
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So very cute. My concern is they might not be sturdy enough. Have you had any issues? These would look great with out bunkbeds!
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This idea totally rocks! I might have to convince hubby to put some up in our new school room! Thanks for sharing!
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Those shelves look great! I love this idea. Thanks for taking the time to walk us through the “how to”. Hopefully we are going to be in a situation to do a little redecorating soon and I would love to put some of these up.
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Genius! I absolutely love it and would never have thought of trying it. Thanks for the inspiration. I also love your blog and will be back, thanks!
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Those look great! What a unique idea.
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LOVE this idea! My son and I LOVE books (hubby reads but doesn’t quite understand our love!). I am putting these up….um, everywhere! ha ha! Absolutely in the kids’ rooms and the playroom. Thanks again for the super ideas!
Barbara – http://babyconnorc.blogspot.com/
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This is wonderful! Now to find the time to do it…
~amy- http://raising-arrows.blogspot.com
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Those are awesome! We will have to try that!
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These look great! You did an awesome job! I really want to do this in my son’s room because he loves books. Thanks for the great “how to”.
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EXCELLENT POST!
FYI-For those asking….We’ve had ours up for almost 2 years now and they are just as sturdy as they were on day 1!
I’ve had others ask me how we installed them, so I will be sending people here from now on. VERY thorough post! THANK YOU!
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Wow! What a great idea! I am definitely going to do this in our new house!
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How did I miss this post?! I love this! I’d like to try it myself, but we rent from my parents and I don’t know if they’d like me doing that to their walls.
we’ll See. Thanks for posting this!
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This is such an amazingly good idea! Thank you for the post!
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I have wanted to do this for a while, especially by the kids’ beds. Time to show hubby the how-to’s and budget for some gutters! Maybe this will be my christmas present to me?
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great idea!- I can think of another reading place that a small section would work well for – then when I when I, umm, use the facilities I wouldn’t have to step on all the books/magazines/papers that the others left on the floor.
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Raising Olives Reply:
August 1st, 2009 at 11:02 am
Elsie,
What a great idea! I’m going to measure our “facility area” and see if we can fit some shelves in there. I still have left over gutters. Thanks for the idea!
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Someone just sent me to this link for and idea for my kids room. I did a post, asking for advice about what to put under their bunk beds. I used to do these in my classroom before I had children and stayed at home. So, I can’t believe I didn’t think of these. How awesome that something simple is going to look so good and I can paint them to match the room too. Also a great way to display large art work! Thanks a bunch!
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This is one of the best ideas I’ve seen in a long time! Off to Lowes, I go!
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I have never seen this. It is brilliant. I wish I had seen this when my boys were little. I might steal it anyway, for our guest room when I have grandchildren
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I love these and would love to do this … not sure how hubby would feel, though. First, we should probably repaint, though. (blush)
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Many of our schools in Mesa, Arizona have these throughout the classrooms! Every teacher I know loves them and we use them daily. As a parent I wished I had used them at home when my babes were mine at home. As a teacher I am THRILLED to see that you are using them in your home to grow your own readers!! As a reader I think I will rethink my bathroom ideas! Thanks for sharing.
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THis is brillant! I love this idea! I might open a pre-school out of my home and this would be perfect. I featured this at somedaycrafts.blogspot.com
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Thank you so much for this! I have been looking for a front facing bookshelf for quite some time. I thought I could probably make one, but it seemed a little too involved. Now I know, all I need are rain gutters! Yay! I’m putting a link to this on my blog so I can remember it. Thanks!
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I absolutely love this idea! thanks for the clear instructions!
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Thank you so much for this idea! We put ours up this weekend, and they’re amazing! Is it wrong that I want them in every room of my house?
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I LOVE this idea and am thinking about using it in my craft room! Thanks for taking the time to post your tutorial.
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LOVE these shelves! I am impressed!
We’ll be moving soon, and I would love a chalkboard wall, a magnetic wall, and some rain gutter shelves. Cool!
Laurel
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I came this way via Dazzle Design’s blog. I LOVE this idea! I just told my husband to expect a trip to Home Depot this afternoon! Thank you SO much! What an inspiration you are. I’m just starting to homeschool my 6 year old and the hardest part for me has been doing it with 2 other kids! Bless your heart!
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Wow! These look great! I may have to try this…if I can brave the hacksaw…Came here via Ellebows and more…
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I think that I got bad rain gutters. The brackets go in at an angle and my screw just snapped in half! They look nothing like yours but it’s the only similar thing they have around here.
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This is a fabulous idea. I have been admiring them for some time now. Do you think they could be hung using some heavy duty adhesive like Locktite or Liquid Nails?
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You are so kind to share this fabulous tutorial! I can’t wait to make these! I’ll be featuring today!
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I enjoyed your site!
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I’ve been wanting to put some of these up ever since I read about them in Jim Trelease’s “The Read Aloud Handbook.” He talked about a classroom that had them up and recommended them for home. It always seemed like a someday project but your tutorial makes it seem very doable. Thanks!
I see some of our favorite read-alouds on your shelves too.
Beautiful rooms!
~Alicia
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I wish I had read your article, I put my shelves up a week before this article! Nicely written article. We didn’t use all studs, we also used a few anchors, as we had a few 10 foot long shelves. We love them.
http://satorismiles.com/tag/rain-gutter-shelf/
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I finally got mine put up! It took a lot of work with the brackets from Home Depot. I would not recommend them as they are at an angle.
http://gazeintotheheavens.blogspot.com/2009/08/home-tour.html
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My husbands asking if they’re sharp at all?
What a creative idea! I like bookshelves where you can see all the book covers displayed!
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Raising Olives Reply:
September 1st, 2009 at 11:57 am
Morgan,
The ones that we installed are not sharp at all. They are vinyl and once you put the end caps on all the sharp edges are covered. The brackets are completely inside of the shelves, so no sharp edges there. If you decide to put these up, I’d love to see them.
Blessings,
Kimberly
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Could you paint them?
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