The One About the Dishrack

One day last week I was on a wild cleaning spree and tidied up the cabinets under my kitchen sink. There really isn't much down there other than trash bags and dishwasher detergent, but there was one of those wire dish racks lurking in the back. I never use it as I prefer my dishmat if I have to actually hand wash something, so I started to chuck it in the trash.  Then I got that little nagging feeling and wondered if there was a way I could re-purpose it instead.

One of the biggest problems that my kids have when they are supposed to be cleaning their playroom is getting their books put away. Right now we have a regular bookshelf in there, but that just doesn't help. Kids recognize their favorite books by the covers so having them in a bookshelf with only their spines showing is just asking for trouble. The first bedtime story means that all the books will be cleared from the shelf in their quest to find the one they want. I have seen lots of great ideas about different ways to display books with their covers showing...Vinyl rain gutters, Ikea spice racks, expensive book displays...Personally, I think the rain gutter idea is genius, but it just won't really work in our playroom and I'm sure my kids would have it off the wall in no time.  

You see where this is going??

This...

became....

Now they can find the books they want without swiping them all off the shelves first. I'm still going to edit their collection down to about a dozen books out at a time and just keep the others put away until it is their turn in the rotation, but I think I like this solution. We'll see if it helps...