You just hauled home a couple of the Billy shelves from Ikea and spent a challenging afternoon putting them together. Now what? Load it up with those cartons of books that have been stacked around your apartment for who knows how long, crack open a Stella and call it a day? Maybe. But if you want your bookshelves to be for display and not just for storage (and yes, they can be both), something that forms a pleasing backdrop to your mid-century sofa and glass and chrome coffee table, read on...
4 Tips To Eyecatching Bookshelves
- Stop! Before you do anything else, perk up the back of the shelves: Wallpaper, a pop of colour (if you're really bold, you could paint a different colour in each section), fabric, whatever you choose, adding colour here adds depth and visual interest and makes the shelving more than just a holding place.
- Shine a light on it: If your bookshelves will be filled with more than just books, consider adding lights to the tops of some of the shelves. Or you might want to clamp on a lamp; the spot will add a bit of drama.
- Putting the books on the shelves: Duh, just start at the top and work your way across and then down, right? Nope. Try a more seemingly haphazard method that works much better. We like to divide up our books into types (try fiction, non-fiction, reference, biographies, coffee table books, cookbooks for starters) and then give them shelf space according to their use; reference books, often unattractive but useful, find a spot lower down, coffee table books near the center, cookbooks at eye level on the side nearest the kitchen, fiction, usually stuff that's already been read but you can't bear to part with, near the top. Place some books upright, some on their sides and don't stack them so tightly you can't pull them out with one finger and vary the height of your books.
- Now, fill in the blanks: A small painting to fill in a blank spot, your collection of Pez dispensers on another shelf, the lumpy clay bowl your niece made for you on top of a stack of books.
[images: Erin's Organized Collections; Stephanie and Bob's SilverRidge Sanctuary; Greg & Laura's Space Maximizing Bungalow; Wendi's Pioneer Modern]
Comments (15)
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Thank you for not suggesting that the books should be organized by color.
view hmr's profile
Yes, thank you!
view gagabrielle's profile
I L-O-V-E, love, the plant stand/shelf in the last picture. Adorable! And I am a fan of organizing books by color, if only in splotches.
view beckyjo's profile
Yeah, i completely forgot about books and became riveted with the plant stand.
view bromeliad's profile
Here's a nice tight three-point primer that will leave you styling like a pro: http://stylenorth.ca/blog/2009/03/trade-secrets-display-made-easy/
view ChrisToronto's profile
I know that the design world has re-branded cluttered as "cozy", and that "cozy" is hot right now, but open shelving and bookshelves should really be for display purposes only. The truth is, no one wants to look at your old paperbacks, magazines, dvds and cds. Pay slightly more and put those items behind nice cabinet doors. It keeps the room looking tidy and organized and allows you to keep the visual focus on those objects truly worthy of display.
view RichardinLA's profile
I'm with hmr on this one. My books are arranged by genre and then author. I like to put my hands on one quickly when I'm want to re-read, refer to it, or loan it out. That way my friends don't have to say, "That's ok, don't go to any more trouble finding it." And my favorite color for a book is GREEN...by borrowing it from the library or buying and selling through a used bookstore.
view mjs7640's profile
I'm with you RichardinLA. Put that mess out of sight. Having all of those old books around doesn't make you look intelligent, they make you look messy. The picture above with the chaise is a good example. The bookcase makes the whole vignette look cheap, cluttered, and messy. That's a shame too, there are some nice pieces there.
Edit. When in doubt, toss it out!
view quiltmaster's profile
As a bibliophile and librarian, I have one suggestion. Put all heavy books on low, preferably bottom, shelves. Over time their weight will make most shelving sag.
Apart from that, do what makes you happy.
view SherryBinNH's profile
people who think books are clutter need to get their heads checked.
view trygve's profile
Right on, trygve! Books are not items people keep around for how they look. Some of us are actually interested in the words inside.
view BonivaGScott's profile
Out of sight, out of mind, right? Why would I want my books behind closed doors? I'd never be inspired to read/refer to them if I didn't see them. Open shelving is great!
view kbags's profile
I'm also with trygve, books are not mere ornamentation, they're part of your personality so of course they should be a visible part of your decor
view idontdobeige's profile
Seems as though there are two sides to this post: first off are the Book Lovers like me, I read my books from cover to cover until they are almost ready to fall apart sometimes and the ones I own are special to me, so I like having them where I can put my hands on them quickly.
Then there's The Other Side who also own books but prefer to have them along with other things hidden from sight to keep things tidy and neat.
There isn't anything wrong with either view, it's just the way people are built.
Plus I'm with the librarian on putting the heavier volumes on the bottom because I learned the hard way that it makes the shelves sag, which is never attractive on a bookshelf or certain other places as well.
view Motherbear's profile
@ RichardinLA, I to look at my old paperbacks, dvds and cds, thank you very much - not so much magazines I'll grant you, but I still have some treasured vhs and audio cassettes to fill that gap!
Surely there's no final right or wrong here - if I like to have my books (which are mostly sci-fi, thrillers, horror and chick-lit, so no chance of an accuation of pretentiousness there, methinks) then it's my home, and I will blooming well do so! ;)
If you want to board up all your media, go for it - but (and this is a general comment) I've spent a good few minutes now reading archived posts here on bookshelves, specifically, because I'm rearranging my own, and I really don't get the almost missionary zeal of the minimalists, when it comes to storing books.
And before anyone tries to typecast the kind of people who like to have stuff on display, versous the "purists" note this - exactly half my flat, including my bedroom, is totally minimalist, and I wouldn't have them any other way.
To each their own - our homes are about what makes us feel happy and if that's packratting every last issue of National Enquirer, or living in little more than a stark white cube - go to it, and good luck!
view yeti3a's profile