Top 10 Book Nook Kits Under $100
Book nook kits are therapeutic, make for gorgeous decor, and are a terrific pastime for people who love reading and puzzling. They sure can get expensive though. However, as with anything that becomes trendy with consumers, prices get skewed.
There are people who buy these to resell rather than build, then you end up paying more. If you don’t know the makers from the sellers, you could easily spend more than need be.
Save your money, learn where to buy book nook kits from suppliers with a reputation for quality, and that are fan favorites among the growing community of hobby miniaturists. Find your next build, or the perfect gift for the bibliophile in your life, in this list of the…
Top 10 Book Nook Kits Under $100
1. The Hotel Design Book Nook Kit
The TwistedMaker store on Etsy has some fantastic designs. Many of them are designed by Ivan Bilous, and then laser cut. If you have, or know someone who has a laser cutting machine, you can buy the digital files from Vector-painter.com and cut your own. This store does the cutting and includes a 3D printed resin miniature cat with this model to add to the scene.
What makes this a good find is 1) its price range is super affordable for a quality book nook, the thickness of the wood used is 1/8th inch, and instructions are digital to keep the costs down. You can print them out or view them on your phone or computer, or open the file on a smart TV for easier viewing.
The photos of the Hotel Design book nook kit don’t do it justice. That’s because it’s unfinished. Realistically, there are hours of creative puzzling time to be had because before assembly, parts need to be painted, embellishments added, and if you’re up for the challenge, you can light up the book nook kit using the included wall lamp designs, or swap those out for a classic miniature coach lamp to give the kit a vintage look.
Do note that this book nook kit does not ship with lights. The photos are for illustration only.
2. Library of Books Book Nook Kit
The Library of Books book nook kit is sold at several online stores, at different price points and with different accessories so shop around. It is an imported model so you won’t get glue, or batteries, which are required to complete the kit.
All the models are at booknookkit.com where you can buy the book nook kit only, add a music box, a dust cover, and/or a music box cover. With the music box, cheaper pricing is at booknookworld.com. Otherwise, whatever version you’re interested in, you’ll likely find at different stores, including Amazon.com but do look at what’s included in the kit. Many are the book nook option only.
A cool feature of this kit is the lights are motion-activated. It has a range of 0.5 to 3m. When you approach it, the lights turn on. When you’re out of range, the lights turn off after 2 minutes so your batteries are going to last longer.
3. Pianist with Nightingale by MiniCity
The Pianist with Nightingale book nook kit is inspired by the Art Nouveau movement. As a gift for history readers and art lovers, this is a book nook kit that would slot beautifully on a shelf with memoirs and biographies of artists of the Art Nouveau period from 1890 to around 1910.
Among the many designs by MiniCity, this is a fan favorite among experienced miniaturists. It’s a 300-piece miniature 3D puzzle, so it’s better suited to those with experience.
4. Nebula Rest Room Book Nook Kit
The Nebula Room Kit is a 3D wooden puzzle of 350 pieces brimming with tiny miniatures, all with meticulous detailing. It’s recommended for ages 14+ and better suited to those with previous experience assembling a book nook kit - or with a lot of patience and focus to assemble it. The estimated build time is 20 hours.
The kit comes with lights and is made with a snap-in design, however, it’s still recommended to use glue to secure the pieces in place. The kit won’t come with glue or batteries. The instructions are multilingual and also consists of diagrams to help you visualize where parts go.
A word of advice on this model, comparison shop for it. It’s available from multiple outlets, all at different prices, and sometimes with tweaks to the name. It’s on Cutebee as the Nebula Rest Room, and nearly 3x the price on Anavarin, and it’s cheapest on Alieexpress.com from the Cutebee Official Store.
5. Rolife Sakura Densa
The Sakura Densa book nook kit is rated as difficult, contains 340 pieces, and includes LED lighting, sandpaper, a miniature screwdriver and, depending on where you buy it, glue may or not be included.
Speaking of glue, if it does include it, don’t go overboard with it. You only need a spot of glue in the corners of each puzzle piece. It doesn’t need to be spread over the entirety of the pieces. Just enough to hold parts in place.
This kit comes with English instructions and a 31-step picture tutorial too. Including the sandpaper is a nice touch, however, given the miniature nature of the pieces, you’ll probably find it easier to smoothen edges with an emery board or nail file.
Once complete (which is estimated to take 7 to 8 hours), you’ll have built a gorgeous piece of travel memorabilia reminiscent of Tokyo streets in Spring with cherry blossoms in bloom, a Kyoto bookstore, and a Sakura train. A perfect addition would be a Tokyo Alley book nook kit to capture the vibrant scenery of Tokyo at night, too.
6. Dreamy MiniAlley
The MiniAlley brand is considered by crafters to be among the best American-based book nook designers and manufacturers. The ‘Dreamy’ is the only book nook kit with a budget price tag under $100. All the others are sold as fully assembled bookshelf inserts costing much more.
The wood used is sturdy and 5mm thick (standard quality for book nook kits is 3mm), however, a little let down is that the decor pieces are all paper rather than stickers, requiring accurate cutting and then glued individually to each wooden puzzle piece. For that, you’re going to need scissors, glue and a pair of tweezers. You’ll also need 4 x AA batteries to power the lights.
The kit contains 22 LED lights, and an infinity mirror creating the illusion of an endless alley - an illusion of an alleyway continuing around the back of the books on the shelf around it.
For the price and quality, the ‘Dreamy’ is a favorite among hobbyist miniaturists.
Pricing tip: Check online marketplaces and the official Minialley.com website as they do run sales on occasion. Quite often, you’ll get the best price by buying direct from MiniAlley.com.
7. The Eternal Bookstore by Cutebee
The Eternal Bookstore book nook kit is a great gift for bookworms, and being a 172-piece 3D puzzle, it’s beginner-friendly too. This model includes illustrative instructions, but very few tools to complete the kit. You'll need glue, paint or coloring markers for any exposed edges, 2 x AAA batteries, and a pair of scissors. Also helpful would be a craft knife to split the wood pieces from the boards without damaging the edges.
8. Rolife Holiday Garden House
This could be considered a good gift for international travel lovers with a fondness for Europe. It’s like a book nook of a garden room on a summer’s day, with a functioning window that opens. It’s that part that makes this a bookend, rather than a bookshelf insert. If you sandwich it between books on a bookshelf, the window would be closed.
With an assembly time of just 5 hours, this would be a model that’s perfect for beginners. It is made of basswood, which is a softwood so more delicate than some other models, however, for the most fiddly smaller parts, spare parts are included, as is some glue.
Like most of Rolife products, you can shop around for deals as they are sold at multiple stores, including marketplaces like Amazon.com. The specific model for this is TGB06. Search online for Rolife model TGB06 to find the best deals.
9. Phantom of the Opera Book Nook Kit
This is an original of MiniCity and true to the theme, captures the timeless classic story of the Phantom of the Opera that began as a novel, went onto become a Box Office hit as both a Broadway musical and then a film. Now you can have the story depicted in 3D form on your bookshelf.
What's good about this book nook kit is that it includes more than usual. You get the LED lights, a dust cover, stickers (not paper that needs cut and glued), tweezers, a mirror, furniture, glue, a frosted rod to smoothen edges and tweezers.
The instructions (link is to PDF instructions) have been translated from Chinese to English. Some parts aren’t translated well, however, the original Chinese instructions are there and you can copy and paste them from the e-version into Google Translate or another digital text translator for a more accurate explanation if needed. Pictures are included and parts are numbered making it simpler to assemble.
10. Sea Breeze Book Nook Kit
The Sea Breeze book nook kit is the most affordable model for beginners to try their hand at building a book nook kit. The most affordable is sold under the Roroom brand name priced (currently) at less than $30. Cheaper than Walmart’s version sold under the LSOAARRT brand.
As a beginner book nook kit, it’s got plenty of miniatures to get started with, including colorful resin plants, fabric curtains and upholstery, LED lights, a mirror to make it appear bigger, pre-designed paper transfers for the interior decor (needs glue), tiny cute wind chimes, and signage to capture the essence of a seaside street.
Within the design are a lot of nooks and crannys that once the entire model is complete, won’t be seen anyway. For example, in the book store, the walls are all decorated with miniature frames and wall art. Once assembled, only the front of the bookstore window is visible when you peek into the scene. If mistakes happen, or parts get broken, nobody’s going to know.
It’s a great kit to start with because there are so many pieces that it won’t matter if some mistakes are made along the way. The finished piece can be just as picturesque as the product image.
All the parts for a quality build are included. What’s not included are the tools like tweezers, scissors, glue, a craft knife and a spreading tool for the glue. If you plan to gift this to someone on the off-chance they’d find it an interesting pastime, consider including the tools. Otherwise, it’s likely to stay in the box, or be a frustrating experience using make-shift tools.
As for the low-price, for the amount of accessories included in the kit, the let down is the instructions. It is an imported design with inadequate translations. Some stores sell the English instructions for an extra $1, however, beginners are more likely to find it easier following along with a video demo of the kit being assembled. The Sea Breeze kit has been around for long enough that there’s multiple tutorials for it online, created by people who have actually built the kit themselves!