How to Make a Book Sling With a Curtain Rod: Maybe the Best Idea Ever

Photo credit: Domestic Imperfection

When you have kids, you want to read to them. Eventually, they’ll take an interest in reading to themselves or even want to read to you. This magic moment can happy as early as 18 months or as late as five years of age (try not to fret if you’re not there yet). It’s such an important milestone and such a moving experience… except the part about spending hundreds of dollars on books and never being able to find one because they’re all under the bed, between the couch cushions, or in some ethereal space we’re assuming is accessible through the same portal where missing socks go.

To avoid this, you got the bright idea to get a bookshelf — but then the kiddos can’t always reach all the books that belong to them. What’s more, many bookshelves can be unsafe when you assemble something you bought at a big box retailer yourself — there’s a reason these “great deals” only cost $20. So instead of risking the potential dangers of having your curious little reader scale a pile of compressed wood particles, make a book sling with a curtain rod!

This idea is so genius and such a simple DIY project for a kid’s room you won’t believe you didn’t come up with it yourself. Even for those of you with virtually zero crafting or sewing skills can make one of these — heck, you can even use a glue gun if you’d rather skip the sewing part!

Here’s how it’s done — all you need to make a wall hanging book sling:

• Fabric in a fun color or print that matches the decor of your kid’s room (or whichever room you plan to hang it in)
• TWO curtain rods that are equal in length (you can pick any length you want, but don’t go too long or it won’t withstand the weight of many books very well
• DOUBLE curtain brackets like the ones you can view and purchase by clicking here

You’re going to hang your book sling low enough that little hands can access all there is to behold there. So when measuring from the floor up, a good height to hang curtain rods for this DIY project (depending on the age and/or size of your child) will be somewhere between 28 and 36 inches off the ground.

YOULEVEL on a curtain rod

Make a pencil mark at the height you wish, then you’re going to make the marks for your wall mountable book sling using two YOUHANGITs and by affixing the YOULEVEL to one of the curtain rods, using the bands it comes with in your Designer Kit or Decor and More Kit (see the little picture right in this blog). Next, you’ll attach a YOUHANGIT to either end of the curtain rod and remove the safety plugs. Approach the wall at the height where you made your pencil mark, and when the bubble in the blue liquid of the hands-free YOULEVEL is perfectly centered in the viewing window, push the curtain rod into the wall so the sharp little points in the YOUHANGITs make the perfect marks where you will then install your double curtain brackets.

To make the slings, you can go the sewing route or the glue gun route — either is acceptable for most children’s books — please do not use a book sling mounted to the wall to hang the Encyclopedia Britannica. All you have to do is fold the fabric at the ends over and sew them, ensuring the openings you’re making are large enough to slide the curtain rods through. Once you have glued or sewn your fabric, slip the curtain rods through the holes so that a good two inches or so are peaking out of either end.

Once you have mounted the double curtain rod brackets to the wall, all you have to do is place the curtain rods right into each slot of the bracket so the material is hanging down in a hammock. Ensuring your glue is completely dry (use plenty of glue if you go this route, then give it a solid 12 hours to dry before hanging anything in the sling), you can begin to place books into the sling.

This is one of the most inventive ways we have ever seen someone learn how to hang a curtain rod and it truly is a great way to add form, function, and panache to a kid’s bedroom or playroom. Once you have taught your darlings to always put books back when they’re done reading, you’ve got a system that’s stylish — and a great way to teach children how to treat books like the treasures they are.