Quality Matters: How to Identify Top-Notch Book Nook Kits

The quality of a book nook kit determines the experience you’ll have putting it together. An inferior kit is going to be an unsatisfactory building experience. For a pleasurable crafting experience, a high-quality book nook kit is essential. 

How do you know what’s quality though? By the kit’s product description. What it’s made of, what’s included in the box, and just as important, what you don’t get! 

The Makings of a Quality Book Nook Kit

The Materials It’s Made With

The three main materials book nook kits are made of are wood, resin, and plastic. Plastic kits tend to be models with thinner frames such as fairy garden rooms with most of the walls being plastic or clear acrylic to mimic glass. 

Most book nook kits are made with wood for the main frame and the miniature parts, either resin or plastic. 

Regarding plastics, some kits have a warning label advising customers that it contains chemicals “known to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm”. The chemical of concern is phthalates (DEHP). It’s one of over 900 chemicals listed at p65warnings.ca.gov. Multiple household items contain phthalates, however, the real risk is ingestion. 

Don’t gift a book nook kit to a kid so young to be putting things in their mouth. If you are concerned about chemicals, look for kits made with polypropylene rather than resins mixed with plasticizers. 

Good to Know: Robotime (the parent company of Rolife book nook kits), only uses polypropylene for the plastic components because it’s “the least likely to leach chemicals”. 

Quality Woods for Book Nook Kits

Some woods are better quality than others for crafting. It depends on what your design plans are. A few of the more durable woods are birch, baltic birch plywood, and basswood. 

• Birch is highly resistant to warping and has a fine grain that takes paint well. 
• Baltic birch plywood is stronger and preferred for laser cutting. You’re more likely to find this in kits with intricate designs requiring precision laser cutting. 
• Basswood is a low-density wood that's smooth, takes paint well, and is easier to carve into with a craft knife. 

Regardless of the type of wood, for quality, it should be at least 3mm thick. Once assembled, because it's wood, it should be given a sealer to prevent it from warping. Most kits get the protective finish from the paint, but you can also apply a clear varnish to the finished model.

Quality of Interior Components

The interior of a book nook kit has multiple miniatures including furniture, wall decor, and soft furnishings. In models with pre-printed decals, the better quality are those that are printed with UV-resistant inks. That way, you can display it on any shelf without worrying about UV rays causing the colors to fade. 

The Types of Glues Suited to Assembling Book Nook Kits

A quality book nook kit ought to come with glue. Sadly, most kits don’t include glue, and the ones that do, may not be the best quality. For assembling book nook kits, the glue needs to strike a balance between quick drying and giving you some working time for adjustments. 

You don’t want near-instant drying glues like industrial-strength cyanoacrylates (CA glues) like E6000 that can set in seconds (not the cure time) - although, there may be a need for it. 

The two types of glues best suited to sticking wood, card, and paper in book nook kits are any brand of tacky glue or white PVA glue. Both dry clear. 

The difference between tacky glue and PVA is the thickness. 

• Tacky glue is thicker so gives a more reinforced bond. 
• PVA glues are thinner making it easier to spread. 
• Cyanoacrylates glue is better suited to attaching non-wood, paper, or card embellishments such as metal objects, crystals, plastic, or ceramics.

Know the Required Skill Level to Complete the Kit  

The product descriptions are a good indicator of the skill level required to build the kit. Some kits are pre-painted, and others are plain requiring paint, varnish, or sealing. The painted kits are the most beginner-friendly book nook kits with the fastest assembly time because obviously, all that’s required is assembly. 

The build time gives an indicator of how long it’ll take to build. Usually 6 to 8 hours, 7 to 9 hours etc. That’s an indicator only and applies to experienced crafters. For beginners, it’ll likely take longer. 

Unpainted kits involve more creativity as you have to think about how you want the finished bookshelf insert to look and work backwards to achieve it, painting each miniature part before assembling the kit. Those will take the longest to complete. 

Have Instructions in a Language You Can Understand

Book nook kits are made and sold internationally. Most products requiring instruction manuals are generally shipped with the instructions translated into multiple languages. That’s not always the case though. 

When buying a book nook kit online, check the pictures for a photo of the instruction manual. If the language is anything other than English, you may need to take a scan of the instructions and use a digital translation tool to get the English translation. A quality book nook kit for customers in the U.S. should be in English, or at least be multilingual, and contain illustrations so you can read and visualize how the 3D puzzle pieces fit together. 

Lighting to Enhance the Aesthetics

The illumination of light-up book nook kits takes the design to a whole new level. Once it’s on your bookshelf, the soft ambience draws the eye, illuminating the finest of details within it. Some models have a single LED bulb, while others have multiple. 

If you’d like your book nook kit to light up, it’s easier to do that when the kit includes the components than to try to DIY the lighting. 

Buy a Themed Kit that Matches Your Interests

Like literature, book nook kits span multiple genres. You can find everything from fantasy-themed book nook kits, to travel-related designs like our 3D Tokyo Alley book nook kit, to unpainted book nook kits that are better suited to making a custom book nook from a kit with the bare essentials only. 

Helpful Tools Not Always Included in Book Nook Kits

Tweezers

Using a pair of tweezers makes it easier to manoeuvre miniatures, and hold them steady while the glue sets. 

A craft knife

The miniatures included in book nook kits are pre-cut and attached to a board. You need to snap them off without damaging the edges. A craft knife makes it easier to cleanly separate pieces without leaving jagged edges.

Scissors

In some kits that have paper decals for putting together picture frames or assembling miniature books for shelves in the design, it may be a sheet of paper with multiple paper decals needing to be cut. You could use a craft knife on a cutter board, or for more control ensuring a straight cut, use a pair of scissors. 

Paint or Markers

Even pre-painted DIY book nook kits can benefit from some extra paint. Particularly around the edges to at least soften any lines that may be showing where parts join. For advanced users assembling an unpainted book nook kit, the two most common types of craft paints are acrylic and latex paint. 

Latex paint is water-based, while acrylic paint is chemical-based. 

Acrylic paint contains chemicals that make it more elastic, thus better able to expand and contract with temperature changes. This is better for wood as it will expand and contract based on the room temperature and humidity levels. For unpainted resin miniatures, latex paint is better suited. 

And, depending on where the model will be displayed, it’s also worth considering if UV-resistant paint would be better to prevent sunlight from causing the colors to fade. 

The better quality of every component being used in the assembly of a book nook kit, the better crafting experience you'll have. Take the time to inspect product descriptions and understand what's included to prevent buyer's remorse, or worse - give up on what could be the most enjoyable pastime you've ever tried.