(This is another new experiment in which we get to chart someone's progress as they give their home The Cure. Jennifer and Drew live in Brooklyn and began the process of curing their home just this past week. Let's see what's happening, shall we?)
We started out the week by working on the foyer; we did a deep cleaning,took coats off the coatstand and put them in the closet, and moved my scarves and gloves into one of the bench baskets. Otherwise we're not changing anything, although the foyer will for the time being serve as a loading dock for anything going out of the apartment. We cleaned out the dining room bookcases and removed everything from the walls for now.
We have a dining room game plan: we're going for moderate mod. We'll paint the walls and bookcase white, let the books be the main source of color in the room and get a new pendant lamp to replace our desparately unloved ceiling fan.
I read the first excerpt of the new book and have been thinking about Maxwell's insights on hypernesting and consumption. As we began the cure I saw how much stuff we still hold on to out of guilt. "I can't get rid of that unused journal, that was a gift. I can't let go of that book, I borrowed it from someone I lost touch with."
After some initial anguish during a standoff with the bookshelves, each time a thought like this came up, I just put the item in a box. Three (!) boxes later, there was room in the lower cabinets to store all of the vases that have been haphazardly displayed all over the house.
Another thing that rang true to both my husband Drew and I was the impulse to buy more and more things to help us organize, when we should be consuming less and letting go of what we don't need. When we initially sat down and made a wish list, our first battle cry was "shelving, shelving, shelving!" Now, in just one week we're seeing that we may eventually be able to get rid of some storage pieces and let the walls of our apartment breathe a little. I'm amazed by how much more spacious and calm our apartment already seems.
See you next week -- JenniferJA
Wow, looks great, especially when you flip back to last week. Keep going!!
Great job of culling!
Books are tough. I'm a "dump it if I don't need it for a specific project or intend to reread it" person, married to an "owning the right books proves I'm educated and cultured" person. (Yes, most of the books in my dreadful bedroom photos were his. And this is after probably an 80% cut in inventory.)
Wow! You're really cooking with clean-burning fuel there! You're really on a roll! Congratulations on a job well-being-done! It sounds it's going to just even better.
great project
I think it was Ptoo who suggested getting rid of what you can BEFORE you start shopping for shelving. as opposed to filling everything you can - great advice that is not obvious to someone like me who has stored my way out of a few problems.
Have I reopened any of that stored stuff? NO!
keep going! it's a great start!
I agree about the books, although the dust on some of mine was a dead giveaway that they were neither read nor much loved except as symbols. I am finally tossing brittle/torn/shabby paperbacks of all types. If I find I miss them, I am giving myself permission to buy hardcover editions with nice bright covers!
I'm sorry, I can't dump my books. (I can edit, but that's about it.) If that's an emotional issue, so be it. I was an English lit major. Asking me to dump my books would be like asking an art major to dump his or her art collection!
Chez moi, it'd be more like asking an art major to dump his/her collection of postcards, snapshots, newsclippings, poster reproductions of famous originals, and brochures from long-ago gallery shows.
I don't think anyone was favoring dumping *all* books, but there's a point at which the book collection becomes unread wallpaper and starts interfering with other, perhaps more meaningful, options for decor.
Wende, as an art major, I feel qualified to respond. :) I would put books in that category, yes, but at the same time, those materials are often resource materials, document materials, and can often be revisited in a manner that helps further one's work. So, like the english major with the books, I'd be in favor of keeping them around. Culling, yes, it's ok to make sure I don't actually have three copies of The Bell Jar, but at the same time, I've gone back to the postcard from the James TUrrell show in 2003 more than once to get an idea focused.
:)
I'm with Fiona. I won't even replace my cruddy paperbacks with bright new hardcovers, b/c the version of "Charlotte's Web" that I read when I was 8 has tangible meaning for me. And yes, I'll never read "Canterbury Tales" again, but if I ever open it, my freshman year notes in the margins will make me laugh. And the thought of arranging my books to be decorative, by size or color, gives me the willies. My books are like photographs to me, objects that trigger memories. But for someone who says all this much better than me, read Anne Fadiman's great essay, "Marrying Libraries."
I recently discovered how I have been holding on to books that didn't have REAL meaning to me, which crowded out those that did. And, that I was holding on to masses of books simply to look smart. (Also an English lit major here). Before my last move, I realized that it wasn't as important to LOOK smart as it was to BE smart, and decided to take a serious look at the bookshelves situation because it was becoming clear that not only would I have to pack and move those books, I would also soon have to buy another new bookcase. I picked up every book on my shelves and really asked myself its significance to me. There were certain ones I couldn't and may never part with...and some of those are the cheapest paperbacks available. On the other hand, I had even nice hardback books that hadn't been cracked in years and I couldn't remember why I even had them. In all, I disposed of over 100 books by either selling them on Amazon or donating them to the local Rotary club which dispenses books to charities in the U.S., Asia and Africa. Both getting money and helping others was a good feeling...There were some pangs, but it was also very very freeing and made me more greatly appreciate what I did have. Now, I make a point of immediately reselling books I know I'll never read again--or getting them out of the library/borrowing in the first place. I plan on buying nicer bookshelves than the ones I have now and making them a size that I'll stick to...we'll see how that goes!
Phew boy! I think I misdiagnosed myself as a Warm person.
From time to time, I'm a working research scholar (and my non-scholarly work involves research, usually), and my goal is typically to have around the books I need for research, handy and organized. If a project is a one-off, I don't keep whatever books I had to buy (our library system out here is dreadfully underfunded, so buying is often necessary to get hold of something otherwise unavailable). If something is useful for other projects -- even hypothetical ones -- I keep it.
I truly don't get collecting tons of books that aren't in one's own field and that one doesn't even *read*. If they're in the house, they have to be stored or displayed somehow, so they're not decoratively neutral.
(I will now shut up on this issue, as it's a sensitive one, chez moi.)
Why can't I be married to Christine???
oh... gender... existing husband... never mind!
I'm on the side of book lovers keeping all their books if they want to. I had bookshelves built in on either side of my fireplace -- it's the first thing I did after I bought my place. My bookshelves are filled with books, and I've read every one. Not every one is a favorite, or a resource I'll go back to, but every one speaks to a time in my life, an experience. Books are like my friends, and it's comforting to have them around, all of them. I don't do it to look "smart." I do it because I'm a voracious reader, and living with the books I've read makes me happy.
Last time we got into this discussion
someone suggested "The Book On The Bookshelf"
by Henry Petroski
when thinking about how to live with books
when books is what you want
it's about the design and engineering and preservation
of books and bookshelves
of course I found it (at The Strand)
and read a part of it
and got distracted by a stack of magazines
but it's really cool, and I'm keeping it!
Thanks to whoever made the suggestion . . .
and (ahem) wendeSF
it's a matter of orientation, not gender
; )
Guido, I almost included "orientation," then decided that with my orientation, the issue in this specific case was gender.
No, I don't know why I saw gender as the more flexible of the two!
a small point in favour of apartment-dwelling book collectors - they make very good sound insulation.
But I'm determined to limit myself to the three shelves I have now. After that, for everything that comes in, something has to go out.
everything looks much fresher, Jennifer (& co) - nice work. Very inspiring.
"No, I don't know why I saw gender as the more flexible of the two!"
THAT is soooooo west coast!
It seems like all design-based advice on organizing bookshelves advocates displaying hardback books (without their unsightly jackets) and either discarding or hiding the even more unsightly paperbacks. As someone who took "History of the Book" parts one and two I'm not even going to get into why throwing away dust jackets is a bad idea, but I will make a point for paperbacks. The small, ugly paperbacks seem to be the most used volumes currently residing on our shelves. They are light, fit into most bags, and don't make you cringe when you spill coffee on them (or is that just me?). I'm currently lugging around a hard-backed Norton Shakespeare for a class and it's like carrying around a large brick. It's size and weight also make it very uncomfortable to hold while reading. Sure, it's nice having all of the plays and poems, but I'd pay three times as much for a Norton in 12 paperback volumes!
A constant stream of good books is what's most important to me and, since I live in the land of cruddy libraries (DC), I like to take my non-reference, non-sentimental, non-unusual (few of the latter 2) books to the great used book store and sell them so I can get more books. I do keep my share of unread books around that I plan to read, but I get tired of having the same old stuff around and I'm always moving them along. Life is short and if one day I realize that I'm constantly passing up a title, then I have to consider liberating that space for something that flies off the shelf when it's time to pick the next book. I've moved lots of times and hauled lots of books around and, I have to tell you, it just starts to become stuff like all the other stuff. That's what bookstores and libraries and yard sales were created for - to house all the zillions of books in the world. That said, even after culling and weeding and dumping, I probably have as many books as some posting here, but I'm just not married to them.
This thread comes at particularly relevant time for myself and my wife, as we currently are apartment hunting for a place for ourselves and our 3000+ books. (We're both academics in our early 50s and yes, one or both of us have read each and every book). When youve got this many books its not about trying to look cultured or intellectual. Its too late for that. In fact, the few times we've let on to a realtor as to how many books we actually have, we've gotten very strange looks.
As weve gotten older weve tried to be more ruthless in trying to stem the rising tide of books. Once read, each book goes through the keep it or give it away evaluation. (It takes a thumbs down from each of us to get donated.) We also weed them every few years (many of the books from our university days are gone.) Still, the library isnt getting any smaller. So, any potential apartment has to pass the does it have enough wall space for the books test.
The one thing we intend to do in the new apartment is to have a uniform system of bookshelves. That way, we can finally get rid of our nothing matches any thing else collection of bookcases that we have accumulated over the last 30 years. Any suggestions for bookshelves?
One exception to my book ruthlessness is that I like to collect authors or series as used books, if possible, so I have to collect them as I find them for a while before I get the first part of the author or series, when I can start reading. My current collecting includes Faulkner and Nevada Barr.
Pixie... my book collecting habits of late have run in the totally opposite direction from yours! I've been purposely breaking up "set" of books, ditching the ones that are not my favorites. I suddenly realized a year or so ago that I was storing (and hunting for!) all these books just for the purpose of completing a set, when I didn't really need it.
Then it carried over into breaking up all my other "collections" and keeping only the best parts. This freed up not only space, but got my brain out of the "must collect things" spot it was stuck in for years. It was so hard at first, but quickly became quite liberating!
platypus: just wanted to tell you that you're not alone. i'm with an arachaeologist, so we have books, plans, and a slide library! our favorite apartment EVER had a wall of built-ins. we're now in the same boat as you are. we have a local store that does plain wood units that you can stain yourself. sometimes you can find something off of craigslist, sometimes universities/local businesses sell off their stuff. solutions depend on how much you want to spend, the space, how pretty you want it to be, etc. heck, i'm not above ikea. i know people diy, so for the next move, i'm keeping my eyes open here & for mags like budget living, dwell, etc. to see if there are any solutions.
aquarabbit-my only purpose for set collection is to get at least the first few so I can start reading from the beginning the authors or series for which I feel it's important to start at the beginning. If along the way I find more used books in the series, I'll pick those up too. But once I read them, I'll get rid of them (unless there's some compelling reason not to, which is unlikely.) Because they're used books, it can take a while to get the first ones in the series.
Thanks, everyone. Doing this project is really helping us move things along since we know we have to report in weekly. So far so good.
On the books front, I'm a big believer in keeping anything that gives you pleasure and makes you happy to look at. We just weren't that attached to some of our books, and wanted to keep the shelves we have neat. And have room for more acquisitions!
Platypus, are you looking for a DIY solution or pre-built shelves? I can point you to some links on this site that I found inspiring for the bedroom shelves that we are going to build for our home office.
platypus, I would go custom if that is in your budget. A wall (or more) or shelves all the way up to the ceiling is the way to do it with a library ladder.
Just one question for you. What is the main purpose or reason for keeping all the books? Do you need them for reference or do they hold another kind of value? I'm not being snarky or anything, I have a pretty large collection of old NYT RE sections (hello Curtis!) that I know I will never read again but I am holding on to them for some reason (not in the same league as books but you get the drift I hope). This is after I recommended to Curtis to archive electronically from NYT website - advice that I have not taken myself.
Congratulations Jennifer & Co! You're already making great progress!
I fall into the 'can't part with my books' category but I have been amazed at how I can visually shrink my collection by using the full depth of my bookcases and making two rows of paperbacks on one shelf. Sometimes I can squeeze a third perpendicular row flat along the back. As long as I place taller books in the front it doesn't look as cramped as it may sound. It's nothing brilliant but it helps.
Looking forward to next week's post Jennifer.
jamie pup -
The problem with archiving the NYT stuff is that after a week or so, you have to PAY for archived NYT anything, which I would rather eat ground glass than do. What I've tried to do with the more recent ones I've gotten is to just look at them, try to absorb the ideas, hope that I won't need them, and toss them. VERY difficult, and it's not working as well as I'd like. Am on the verge of another fairly big urge to purge.
On the NYT archiving problem -- the New York Public Library gives you free-from-your-home access for some years and free-at-the-library access for other years, provided you have a library card.
If you have a card for other libraries, it's worth seeing what they offer, as database access differs a lot from library to library. (SFPL actually gives better coverage of the NYT for the 1970s.) You'd want to check it out before you committed to dumping hard copies -- but the database I use for NYT seems to give full text of the entire newspaper, ads and all.
For those of you who belong to your college's alumni association, that often makes it possible to get really good library privileges, including at-home access to newspaper databases.
Actually, by archiving, I meant archiving onto your own media, not relying on NYT's archive.
I mentioned a product called webstracter before to Curtis which automatically archives for you as you surf. I keep meaning to try it - or atleast buy an external HD before I buy it - but I have not tried it yet even though I am now in possession of said HD.
Spelt it wrong:
http://www.softchaos.com/products/webstractor/overview/
jamie pup -
That sounds like a brilliant idea for my next computer. My home computer's CD thing doesn't work, and so I can't even install new software on it unless it's through the web, which I sometimes can, but I think that it's not in cards at the moment.
But I hope that I'll remember that name whenever I finally DO get one, so I can get it. Or at least remember that it was you who suggested it.
Jennifer: This transformation is wonderful. Really good.
Re: books - I'm a book addict, but I've found that they collect dust and I don't have enough time to dust every one all the time. And I have allergies. I've discarded many after being honest with myself about them and the ones I really, really treasure (that I've read) are behind cabinets with doors. These are the old books. My newer books, mostly jewelry oriented and art, are either in my work area (jewelry design) or on open shelves (art and photo albums) and I have finally - FINALLY - learned to stop lying to myself and get rid of my stuff. Anything I need for inspiration or design is organized. The other stuff is just fluff. At least, for me. I'm on a new mission to eliminate dust and anything that causes one extra moment of cleaning since my down time is limited.
Jaimepup + curtis -- do either of you use a mac? The newest version of their software will let you save anything as a pdf -- just go to "print" and choose "save as pdf." You have to remember to do it, but it's very useful...