Evolution of a Pressboard Bookshelf

Here's another project I've been working on in Sophia's room. Her bedroom will likely be the best room of the house at this rate! I LOVE BOOKS (not as much as I love saving money, but pretty close). I have a few hundred stashed around the house. Have I read them all? No. Do I plan to? No. Do I love the way they make my house feel like a home? Absolutely.

Here's a before and current shot of the pressboard shelf I've had since I was in high school. I know, I should probably just chuck it, but there's still life in it. Plus, I don't really want to invest in a nice piece of furniture that is going to be LOVED ON BY A CHILD and covered with dents, dings, and broken pieces. I am firm believer that kids should be kids, which means that they must have SOME furniture in their room that is functional and disposable. (The antique rocker that belonged to my grandmother is to be treated with the utmost respect....but I know that at least one more dent will be added to it each year.)
                             
I also am a firm believer that children should have the freedom to live in organized chaos. After teaching for 4 years, I learned that no matter how I put the books on the shelves at the beginning of the day, they would look completely different within 8 hours. Keeping that in mind, I wanted to give Sophia the opportunity to store her books (facing any direction she pleased) in bins (so that I wouldn't lose my senses over books facing the wrong direction). I purchased the bins at Walmart for about $5 each. Then I used stencils from teaching to trace numbers onto Heat N Bond paper, which was then ironed onto fabric remnants from her bird mobile over the crib. In the near future, I'd like to line the back of the shelves with a darker fabric and possibly attach some moulding to the front! (I'd also like to put some pictures in my frames and attach little cloth flowers to her branches in the vase on the shelf, but that will have to wait.)