When I was offered the chance to review a Tidy Books Children’s Bookcase, I literally jumped at it. We are readers here, and encouraging my children to read and get enjoyment from books is hugely important to me. I’d seen Tidy Books kids book storage before, and thought the products looked absolutely gorgeous.
The business was started by mum Geraldine back in 2004, when she was trying to find a suitable bookcase for her daughter. In her own words ‘It was clear to me that kids do judge a book by its cover, not the spine!’ so she set about creating a bookcase with front covers facing outwards, and it’s really taken off from there as Tidy Books now operate in the UK, the US, Australia, France, Germany and Italy.
On the bookcase’s arrival, I was excited, and Little Man was trying to open the box himself! It comes in a relatively small box, and whist heavy, it’s still easy enough to lift and move about.
It took the Husband just over half an hour to assemble it and attach it to Little Man’s bedroom wall, and the instructions were clear and easy to follow.
The dimensions are 115cm (h) x 77cm (w) x 7cm (d), and it carries a 7 year guarantee.
I absolutely LOVEÂ this bookcase, for several reasons:
– It’s appearance. They do come in a range of colours, but the clean and bright white is perfect for Little Man’s room, and fits in with the rest of his decor (I shared his room makeover here last month) and it looks quite classic, whilst also feeling bright and contemporary. The alphabet in primary colours not only looks great, but I’ve heard Boo repeatedly singing the letters to Little Man when they’re in his room, pointing them all out to him. It also feels sturdy, and of a good quality, as all Tidy Books products are made from FSC sustainable wood, not MDF. I am confident that I can pile loads of books in there and the shelves do not bow or give at all.
– It’s size. In our case, it’s used up what was previously dead space in Little Man’s room. It’s just 7cm deep, and sits propped against the wall (you do attach it at the top so it won’t topple) at an angle of around 5cm away from the skirting board. It’s slotted in there between where his bedroom door opens in and his wardrobe opens out, where I wouldn’t be able to fit anything else.
– It’s capacity. I have to say I was surprised at how many books it does manage to hold, and comfortably so. It holds up to 85 books, and as you can probably see in the picture there, has different shelf heights to accommodate different shapes and sizes.
– And this is my very favourite reason – it’s got Little Man reading more. I hadn’t expected such a great impact. This was where his books were, in cubes at the foot of his bed…
And now they look like this….
It’s no wonder he’s looking at them more, they look so enticing now! He’s bringing books to me to be read to so much more now, and he’s also choosing different books, too. He used to stick to around 10 favourites, whereas now that he can see more front-facing like this, we’ve been enjoying a much greater variety of stories.
This bookcase is priced at £149.50. It was the price and the fact that I believed it would take up too much room that had me pass it over for the cubes we opted for. I made a mistake there! Now that I have seen the quality, I am confident of it’s longevity, I am impressed with how little space it does take up, and I also now have my son more interested in grabbing books for me to read to him, or helping himself to ‘read’ his own. Can’t ask for more.
What do you think of them?
You can find Tidy Books on Facebook and Twitter.
Disclosure: We received a Tidy Books Bookcase FOC for the purposes of this review, though all words and opinions remain my own.Â
We have one of these bookcases in LP’s room and I will be getting another for Little Man’s room when we give it an update next year. They’re great, LP loves hers as she can just go and help herself to books x
I cannot believe how much more he’s looking at his books now, just love it 🙂
We have loads of books and the monkeys are very good at picking them up to read/look at but sadly ours are as yours were! Lined up in rows and rows! I’ve seen these before Jocelyn and they look amazing! So pleased you agree! Great review x
Boo’s are like that, and to be honest, she’s always grabbed them anyway, but for Little Man this has changed everything! He’s enticed by that bookcase all the time now! x
What a lovely, practical bookcase – I love that you acan actually see your books now and they are more accessible to your children #triedtested
It’s brilliant, so much more enticing and practical.
I adore Tidy Books, these bookcases are just fantastic, and make it so easy for little ones to store and choose books. Thanks for linking up with #TriedTested
I’m so impressed with it, can’t praise it enough!
That is such a great bookcase! I like it when you can see the front covers of books. Fantastic x
It’s fabulous, I love it! x
Now I can see why you were so enthusiastic about this-I love that it displays the books face out and is relatively compact too. My son’s room is quite small, but it could easily fit in there and display his books so much better than they currently are x
Yes, I was amazed at how easily it fit into a small, unused space, and what better way to fill dead spaces than with books?! x
Looks absolutely gorgeous. It’s a great way for books not to get hidden or forgotten about and looks fab too!
It’s gorgeous, and yes, Little Man’s been grabbing a wider range of books to read as he can see more of them.
It really does make the books look so much more appealing doesn’t it? I would love something like this for our new playroom when it’s finished 🙂
Thanks for linking up with #TriedTested this week x
Definitely, and I’d recommend it for any play/bedroom. Thanks for hosting x
Can’t believe it holds so many books!! Definitely something to think about when we get around to decorating the bedroom! #triedtested
I know, I was so impressed!
Our book collection is ever growing and I need somewhere to put them but Baby M’s room is quite small. This looks like it would be great as it doesn’t take up too much room #triedtested
Yes, I was surprised by how much it holds, yet takes up so little space!
It really does make them look more enticing. What a lovely way to display books for children.#Tried&Tested
They call to him now!
I’m currently looking for a bookcase for LP’s bedroom and this looks great. He has a shelving unit with boxes at the moment and it doesn’t work very well for his larger books. This looks great! Brilliant review. xx
Oh, I cannot recommend this enough now! Thanks x