DIY Bookshelf Insert Kits: Transform Bookshelves on a Budget
Fully assembled bookshelf inserts sell for a premium. They can take days to weeks to build from scratch. DIY bookshelf inserts, better known as book nook kits, are a more affordable option.
For anyone to have never attempted a book nook project before, it makes sense to start with a budget kit. The most affordable for those are unbranded designs that sell on marketplaces like Amazon, Temu, Aliexpress, Wish, and, Walmart, too. Compare prices to find the best deal.
11 DIY Bookshelf Insert Kits to Transform Book Displays on a Budget
1. Mira’s Magic House
The Mira’s Magic House book nook kit has 323 pieces and is suited to children ages 10+, although some sources recommend it for teens aged 14 and up. For younger kids, it’ll be suitable as a family activity because of the miniature parts, and electrical components to wire the lighting. This is a fantasy-themed book nook kit that could be a blast for parents to tackle together as a family.
Find the Mira’s Magic House kit at Amazon, Walmart, and Aliexpress.
2. Japanese Cherry Blossom Alley
The Cherry Blossom Alley kit would be a splendid complement to our Tokyo Alley DIY book nook. It has the traditional characteristics of a Japanese alley during the Cherry Blossom season in Japan around late March and early April. A unique characteristic of this kit is that once assembled, you can display it open (as a bookshelf insert) or closed, which would be a more prominent decorative piece.
Available on Amazon and Aliexpress.
3. Colmar Town
The Colmar Town kit is a lovely picturesque cityscape that depicts romantic scenes of France’s Little Venice region. The center mimics the River Lauch and to either side of the water are iconic architectural buildings with a floral boutique store, cake shop, and a coffee house with outdoor seating by the river.
Available at Amazon, diysonline.com, booknookkit.com, and craftdiykit.com.
4. Sea Breeze
The Sea Breeze kit is widely available in toy stores, and many of the online marketplaces and it’s the most affordable book nook kit for under $100, often being priced below $30, and it includes lights so you can practice lighting up a book nook too.
Available at Amazon.com, booknookkit.com, booknookworld.com, and Aliexpress.
5. Flower House / Flower Room
Fans of horticulture and botany will appreciate the Flower Room kit. It’s the sort of design that’d be suited to a sunny reading corner, evoking the sense of a European fairytale garden. On the upper floor is a balcony with a table setting where one could imagine hosting a tea party. Below is a pebble path, miniature garden plants, and gardening tools.
Available at Amazon, and Aliexpress.
6. Magic Shack
The Magic Shack is the type of whimsical bookshelf insert that’d be terrific decor perched on a shelf surrounded by children’s books. Particularly, adventure stories and those that conjure up magical fairytales. It is recommended for ages 14+, but like most kits, that’s because the parts are tiny and with this one, there’s wiring involved. For teens interested in electronics and reading fantasy fiction, the Magic Shack could be just the thing to keep them occupied for hours.
Available at Amazon and Aliexpress.
7. Dorothy’s Journey
Dorothy’s Journey is inspired by the Wizard of Oz. Anyone to have read the story as a child is likely to find this nostalgicl. The design comes from the Land of Oz; the magic country where Dorothy meets the scarecrow. Giving the design a more elegant touch is a treehouse in the form of a log cabin perched high over the forest floor.
Available at Amazon, and Aliexpress (Select color C0014).
8. The Christmas House Kit
The Christmas House book nook kit is the perfect bookshelf insert for a fast festive makeover. It has the traditional colors of red, green, and gold, a characteristic wooden sled car, jolly snowmen, Christmas trees, parcel, and includes a music box - Turn the winder and it plays Jingle Bells.
Available at Amazon, Aliexpress, and Booknookworld.com.
9. Detective Famous Agency
The Detective Famous Agency book nook kit evokes a sense of mystery and intrigue. It’d be suited to a bookshelf with mystery novels by authors like Agatha Christie, and Arthur Conan Doyle. Do note that the ‘Detective Famous Agency’ book nook kit also goes by the name of “Detective Society” in some stores like Temu and Aliexpress. It’s a different design from the Cutebee-branded Rose Detective Agency, although it does have some similarities.
Available at Amazon, Aliexpress, and Walmart.
10. Butterfly of Unknown Lands
The Butterfly of Unknown Lands is symbolic of a building in ruins, wildflowers growing up through the floor, wall murals, an aisle of books strewn on the floor with colorful butterflies flying around. It’s a design that would suit readers of history, or perhaps add a decorative element to a bookshelf with dystopia titles.
Available at Amazon, and Aliexpress.
11. Tarot Divination Society
The dark allure of the Tarot Divination Society would make a unique gothic gift as the design is the style of a miniature gothic-style room. It is a light-up bookshelf insert with a green glowing orb, and a large ornate clock, with several characters sitting around a table on the lower floor. On the upper floor is an astrology dome, a witch, an owl, magic potions and scrolls.
Available at Amazon, and Aliexpress.