apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I love that tufted couch every time I see it. *swoon*

Someone needs to alert Kristen that we AT readers have a longstanding hatred for books arranged by color...

It's kind of nice to know where to find a book because they are all arranged by topic.
On the other hand, you could make colored book covers that do just that - code topics by colors.

love the tufted couch. love the color.

but the shoes! who has that many shoes?!

Speak for yourself bepsf. Not everyone hates it.


http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1682767&l=7e9e5357b2&id=500186656

I don't ever have trouble finding a book.

This subject has been discussed way too many times.

I'll go on the record as one who LOVES anything arranged by color. If not completely effective 100% of the time, at least you're happy while digging around -- and I need the OCD relief this approach supplies.

I'll be linking to this article on Friday when I refresh my color inspiration page at stacyjulian.com

Keep up the inspiration.

i love things arranged by color!! it's beautiful that it's catching on. i entered the color contest... one of the photos is black & white books under my bench!

kate...

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/sf/room-for-color-2009/kates-lovely-light-blue-living-room-room-for-color-west-8-097713

http://www.jetkatdesign.com/blog/2009/8/10/new-poster.html

I'm not a big fan of books organized by color because I like them all jumbled up, but I organized my closet by color one day, just for the heck of it, and never went back. It looks SO much more organized and neat!

Books 'organized' by color is tacky in my opinion. It reveals a superficial relation to books, since it treats them like objects. I am always very suspicious of people who have their books displayed that way, it makes me think they don't really read.

I arrange my books and clothes by color.

I was once asked at a job interview once how I arranged my books; the guy shared an office with someone who arranged his books by size and color, not subject. I thought it was a great interview question.

We arranged our books by color and I love it. And we also are careful to keep our library small enough so that it's not hard to remember what color a book is. So far, so good.

I see the arrangement, by color or otherwise, an opportunity to really look at your stuff and consider why you own what you own.

I organize my closet by style and color. It looks really nice and makes sense.

I don't like books by color.

If I had only one bookcase of books--or I rarely read or loaned the books I own--I'm sure arranging by color would be fine. As it is, I don't think I'd ever find anything. I'm all for color coordinating wardrobes and linens in drawers and closets, that makes sense. But for books and music, I don't think it's very functional.

@see – I think that you’re thinking about it wrong: some people are visual and remember books better by color. I worked in a bookstore for 4 years, and got very good at spotting books by their cover art/spine. I have no trouble finding books by their color at all.

I also have read all but one shelve’s worth of the 2K books I own, and many of them have been read multiple times. I actually have really enjoyed having the books organized by color because it’s made me make connections between authors and titles that I otherwise would not have thought of --just by having them become companions on the shelf. The similarities between some sci-fi authors and some political authors for instance, or how Louisa May Alcott was influenced by Thoreau. It’s serendipitous connections like these that keeps me happy with the by-color organization.

Just because something isn’t organized in a way that *you* wouldn’t like or don’t think is logical, doesn’t mean that there isn’t a logic behind it, or that the people who utilize such a system are any less serious about or connected with what they read.

I'm an artist & arranged my books by color. My husband had problems finding books (nuclear engineer), but if he asked me, I'd know where HIS books were. I never had ANY problem finding any book. In fact, I think it was easier for me to remember by cover/color than when they'd been arranged by topic. And there was a nice poetry to arranging books ABOUT color BY color :)

However, we just moved and now have a small den turned library. Since it's no longer a single wall of bookcases, they're back to topic.

But regardless, I agree this has been over-discussed.

If you arrange the books on something as dominant as a large bookcase, the rest of the room has a chance to compete. It allows your guest to see everything equally and not be overwhelmed by the jumbled wall of books.

mlleErica-
I'd love to see what a personal collection of 2K books looks like. Got pics?

I would love to arrange my shoes by color... unfortunately, they're all black and brown, except for my white gym shoes and green Converse!

I do keep my important papers in binders that are color-coded: red for receipts and warranties, orange for academic records, etc. I just covered some ugly black binders with paper from Paper Source. They're pretty enough to store out in the open, though I don't have room for it right now.

Books, though? No way. I love the jumbled-up library look too much!

I arrange my large collection of vintage drinking glasses by color as well as my closet somewhat...

Arranging books that way is just wrong!

I arrange lots of things by color--my clothes, my books, my CDs, DVDs.

They are obviously already sorted by size and weight, according to the sturdiness of my shelves, which means fiction is shelved together and large artbooks are shelved together. Organizing them by color simply gives them a dual purpose--decor and reading entertainment.

I am a visual purpose so when I'm looking for a book or CD, I tend to be thinking of what the cover looks like. So sorting by color DOES help me find them. I rarely remember author's names so sorting alphabetically would be of no use whatsoever.

@see: books ARE objects. stories on the other hand, are what should be treated with respect.

@mjs7640 -- I don't have pics of the ones in my bedroom, but here are the shelves I have up in my living and dining. I was actually very fortunate because the bookstore that I worked at went through a renovation, and I was able to scavenge as many big shelves as I wanted from those they were replacing. :)

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2475380&l=1ca0b76e2f&id=500186656

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1682767&l=7e9e5357b2&id=500186656

Actually -- everything in my whole apartment was scavenged -- I furnished and decorated it for $500 when I moved in last fall -- my books are the main source of both color and visual interest in my otherwise Dilbert-like cubicle of an apartment.

My book collection is the only thing that I own that I really value -- and the only thing I've kept intact from the time I was a little kid. I have every one of my children's books -- from the first book of fairy tales that was given to my Mom at the baby shower onward. My family was a rolling stone when I was growing up. I don’t have a lot of keepsakes or heirlooms – except my books.

My point is, that you can't assess someone's intellectual or emotional attachment to something just because they don't display that thing in the same way you would.

Could anyone tell me the name of the brightly colored glassware with the leaves on it? I've seen it before and have always wanted to know what kind it is.

My collection covers MANY topics, and I have many books per topic. I need to organize them by Call Number, the system used in research libraries. I'm not happy about marking the spines, though. I realized that I could use colored paper to make 11" long strips that I can fold around the book, tucking the ends in as I would the flaps of a bookcover. I can use a color per topic, labeling each book's info on the strip: Blue for PS (Literature, American), red for CT (Biographies), Green for N (Fine Art), etc. Useful for organizing books according to use, and still gaining an advantage in locating them.
Now for the time to do this...

Books are organized by subject. Pantry by category. Closets by color and type. Home Filing System, Color.