The problem with building my giant new built-in bookshelves is that I organized my books by genre and now needed a way to label my system. 😆 I didn’t want anything that stuck out too far – or even as far as my wood fronts, really – so I came up with simple little dividers that let me label things however I wanted. It was cheap. It was easy. And now everyone can at least better guess at my organization.
Supplies:
(As an advertising affiliate and Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases. But it doesn’t cost you anything extra and helps me keep up my site!)
- cardboard box
- old book to tear up
- glue
- marker
Tools:
- scissors
- glue gun (optional)
Step 1: Cut cardboard. Taking my random box, I decided to make my cardboard dividers about as tall as a paperback, so about 10 inches. They didn’t need to be as wide as a book but wide enough not to fall out from between books, or get lost between, and 4-5 inches seems about right. I wanted 12 dividers for my sections, so I cut 12 pieces of cardboard to about that size.
Step 2: Tear up a book. This might feel like sacrilege, but it ends up looking cool, so deal with it. 😆 Personally, I had an old proof copy of one of my books, so I used that. The older the paper of the book, probably the cooler it would look. BUT I do like how the bright white base of my book’s paper blends with my white shelves, so there’s that to consider too if you don’t want to deal with a white vs. off-white, weird look.
I had a helper who really enjoyed this task. It does help to have some pages nearly full sized, but you can rip the pages into all different sizes for variety.
Step 3: Glue paper strips over cardboard pieces. I used a hot glue gun because I had a lot of glue that way, but you could use a simple glue stick instead. It worked best to take a big piece of a page and put that down first, covering as much as I could right away. I tried to use these pieces to wrap around the sides and corners too. After that , I just randomly added strips over the cardboard until all of it was covered, making sure to turn the pieces so all the writing wasn’t going in the same direction.
Step 4: Write genres/names of sections. I thought about different ways to add these labels, but I ended up using a sharpie marker and writing directly onto the paper along the same side every time.
You could use new strips of paper with the labels on them, glued onto the sides. You could make more tab-like labels. You have lots of options! But I did like making big written labels with the marker, and it tied in with some other decor I have on my shelves like this:
Step 5: Place between books! I thought about having them stick between books so that they protruded out the front, but I wanted them to blend in a bit more than being harsh dividers. I ended up mostly pulling them to stick up above the books, sitting back more in my shelves. For my shorter shelves, they sit right by decorative dividing sections anyway and don’t have to stick up as high to still be visible.
That was it! I like how these little dividers label each section of my shelves where I need them. They’re not intrusive but get the job done if you’re looking for them.
DIY Must-Have Lists
