Recently I’d heard online that some folks were making “TBR carts” from the popular three tier carts you can find at some home goods stores. I was shocked I had never thought of the idea before because I’ve had a three tiered rolling cart for YEARS that Max and I bought at Ikea and use as our “drop center” when we exit/enter our house (we keep our keys, receipts, reusable grocery bags, etc. in it). The one we have from Ikea is a dark neutral grey and I decided I wanted to get a fun colored one for my books. After a little online digging, I found that Michael’s carried one in a beautiful share of turquoise (which, as you can tell by my blog, is my favorite color). I excitedly headed to my local Michael’s this past weekend and managed to snag the last turquoise one, but they also had a lot of other fun colors too (blush, cream, etc.)
So far I’m pretty pleased with how the cart turned out. It was really easy to put together (only took about 10 minutes or so) and it’s sturdy enough (I will say our Ikea version feels a bit higher quality). I can see in the future sprucing it up even more, perhaps with magnets, stickers, string lights, etc. For now, I’m excited to try this new organizational system for my TBR to cut down on the time I spend looking for my next read.
Organizational Structure
I’m using each of the three tiers in distinct ways to break up my TBR into three categories:
- Top Tier: Immediate, up-next TBR. Also note taking supplies such as pens, notepads, post its, bookmarks, etc. I’ll also probably keep my Kindle up here as well for easy access.
- Middle Tier: Physical, owned books TBR that I would like to get to soon-ish. Also storage of most of my book sleeves so they’re all in one place and not taking up room on my shelves.
- Bottom Tier: ARCs and finished review copies. These are where the books I receive from publishers will reside if they are not on my immediate TBR on the top tier.
In all transparency, though I love my TBR cart, it IN NO WAY can hold my entire TBR (that’s mostly what my “shelf of shame” is for lol). However, I do feel like it’s a wonderful way to add more “focus” and intention in my TBR by physically separating out the books I have on deck that I want to read and making them easily accessible, rather than having to comb an overcrowded shelf for them. It’s also been great being able to pull some accessories from my shelves that were over crowding them and store them here as well.
Would you ever consider buying a TBR cart? Do you have a method of physically separating out your TBR so it’s top of mind and easily accessible? Let me know in the comments!
I like your blue cart! Can I borrow a book?
Sure, which one would you like to borrow?
I’ve never heard of this before! This is such a cool idea!!!
It really is!! It’s so much fun and has really helped me organize my immediate TBR!
I’ve been seeing these all over Instagram, but I’ve been holding off on buying one lol. I love how you organized it, and the color is super pretty!
Thank you Victoria! I highly recommend getting one, they’re pretty affordable and super easy to put together 🙂
This is so gorgeous! I’m all for finding prettier ways to organize things to make me more likely to actually tackle them and my TBR is one of those things that needs a little pizzazz so hopefully (crossing my fingers) I’ll be able to buy one of these once I move into a bigger apartment next year (I swear it’s been constant moving every year or twice a year and it’s driving me nuts). A bit of a side note: I love how you have book sleeves! I never thought about it but putting physical books in any kind of bag is SUCH a risk (what if the corners are damaged???) so those would really come in handy for me as well.
Laura @BlueEyeBooks
Pizazz is TOTALLY the right word for this- it’s made me excited to read again, rather than dread all of those unread books I own (although this is a very small fraction of those books lol). And yes, book sleeves are a real game changer! I’ve bought them from a couple different stores on Etsy, and while they’re pricey I LOVE the different patterns and they’re super helpful because I am definitely one of those people who hates my books getting damaged at ALL. I highly recommend them, let me know if you need shop recommendations 🙂
That is some next level stuff. Very nice.
Thank you Sam!
That is the cutest! I have all of my books upstairs, but I can see having a cart like that downstairs.
It would be a great way to divide up your collection between levels! I’ve been toying with the idea of moving this upstairs to my bedroom actually since all of my bookshelves are downstairs!
I love this idea SO MUCH. as soon as a move somewhere that’s not the size of a closet, THE TBR CART IS HAPPENING.
YES DO IT! It’s so much fun, just staring at it makes me happy 🙂
Oh this is a great idea! I totally would do this, but maybe not anytime soon as I’m currently living in a dorm, so all my tbr are on my dorm room anyway while my other books at home. Your cart is so cute!
Thank you! Yes I remember when I was in college I could only bring a limited selection of books to my dorm and it was definitely just my immediate TBR! I was so relieved when I graduated and I could FINALLY have all of my books in one place again!
I’d not heard of a TBR cart so what an awesome idea. Yours looks very cool and now I’m sat here thinking ‘I want one’ so I may end up shopping in a bit.
Thank you Becky! I’ve really enjoyed using it to organize my books, I highly recommend one!
I LOVE this idea! Right now, I have a small floating shelf above my nightstand, but this cart would be PERFECT. I need more space for my immediate TBR, but not like, an entire shelf’s worth of space! I am absolutely going to do this when I move- it will be ideal, especially since I will have less space in my room for books! Genius! AND, it’s freaking adorable to boot- I love your paint choice!
Thank you! Disclaimer, I definitely didn’t paint it myself lol! I’ve noticed there seems to be a super wide variety of colors based on where you look for carts- Target has more neutrals, Ikea has darker colors, and Michael’s had some fun pastels, like this one and blush pink!
I absolutely love this idea! I just put a pink one in my amazon cart 😀
Yes!! They’re so much fun!!
Ohhh I need to get one! I don’t like to keep ARCs (unless I reeeeaaally love the book, then I hoard any and all editions lol), so I struggle to figure out where to put them until I read them!
This would be a great solution! I’ve honestly only been using it a few weeks but it has already made me pick up quite a few physical ARCs that I probably otherwise would have procrastinated on! It almost becomes a fun challenge to try to get the ARC basket on the cart as low as possible!
[…] My TBR Cart @ Girl in the Pages | I’ve been loving the cute TBR carts all over the internet lately and I’m determined to get one. I’ve actually been looking for something to keep on the side of my bed that I can both use for storage AND wheel closer to prop my iPad on when I watch shows in bed. My current setup is garbage. I hope to snag one of these soon! […]
I love this idea! Might have to make a little trip to get me one of these carts. Love how you have your ARC’s on there as well. I always struggle to figure out which one I need to read next so this would be a great way to organize that. Yep def going to get me a cart this weekend!
I highly recommend it, I’ve only been using mine for a few weeks and already I’ve noticed a difference in how easy it is for me to grab a new read quickly and spend less time deciding what book to read next!