Most of you have probably seen Ikea’s Ribba picture ledges and Bekvam spice racks used as display bookshelves in children’s room. Charlie has had the Ribba shelves and Olive has had both the Ribba shelves and Bekvam spice racks in her room for almost a year now, so I thought it was time for a comparison of the two!

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Displaying books with the covers rather than the spines out makes sense for younger children who can’t read, so they can pick out their favorite books for storytime. Although I must warn you that the temptation to pull down every single book is way too strong for most toddlers, so you’ll probably find yourself constantly putting books back up!

Aesthetically, I prefer the clean lines of the white Ribba picture ledges. The Ribba is also available in black and comes in two different sizes (21 3/4″ & , 45 1/4″). We’ve even cut them to a custom size to line an entire wall in our last apartment. The main problem we’ve encountered with the Ribba shelves however, especially if you have younger toddlers, is if you stack books like I have above, they can easily fall on little one’s heads. And if you display books without stacking them, you can’t display very many at a time.

Charlie has four of the large Ribba shelves in his room, and it’s amazing just how few books these display type shelves hold. We still need a separate bookshelf for the majority of his books. And now that he’s almost 5 and reading mostly paperback/chapter books, we mostly use the shelves to display his toys!

Many people opt to paint the Bekvam spice racks (I’d intended to paint mine white but never got around to it). You can actually fit more books into the spice racks than the Ribba shelves because the front bar makes them much more secure, which is why I prefer them to them in young kids’ rooms. But as an affordable, functional and decorative display in a child’s room, I’ve been happy with both!

Do you have display bookshelves in your child’s room? How are they working out for you?