apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Damn ... I missed the part about the in-process photo. I wanted to submit my awesome closet overhaul, but I only have before and afters ;-(

It looks great, but on a practicality standpoint, I personally would lose my mind trying to figure out what color such-and-such a book is and therefore where it is!

Adorable!

OneWallKitchen--I was a bit concerned about being not able to find my books if I arranged them by color, but as it turns out, the color-based arrangement really works for me--almost better than if they were arranged by subject. I'd never realized it before, but the covers of books I've read become sort of imprinted in my mind, so that when I think of a book I have, I pretty much always know what color the cover is, and it ends up being quite easy for me to find any given book. Sometimes, several books by the same author have similar covers if published by the same company (I can picture my light blue V.S. Naipaul books all in a row on my shelf right now), so they end up getting grouped together anyway.

I think if you're wondering whether or not you should arrange your books by color, you can give yourself a little test...think of various books you have, and ask yourself what color they are. You might be surprised to find that you know what colors they are!

I love this idea! I have a very visual memory so maybe I should do this to avoid searching every shelf each time I'm looking for a book...

In order for the find-by-color process to work, you might have to have a bit of a photographic memory. As a very visual person, my brain works by almost taking a picture of something, that I draw upon later.
For someone with a very color-oriented and/or visual way of taking in information, this is the perfect way of organizing and finding your favorite books.

I love it! It's looks more like a piece of art than a wall of bookshelves!

This would drive me batty, while I understand the explanation about visually remembering the cover if I saw this in person I'd still think you weren't much of a reader...

I'd at least seperate fic from non-fic first but then I have most of my books card cataloged so maybe I'm already batty.

plus I bet the vast majority of books on my shelves have black or old red-brown bindings not conducive for nice even color coding. I'd hate to have to read based on cover color just to maintain balance.

It looks cute, but I, personally, am very much not a fan of the color-coordinated bookshelves. It doesn't ever look very chic or modern to me. But if you are going for festive and cozy, maybe it's for you...

I recently re-organized using this method. Initially, I found it difficult to find a specific book when I wanted it. (I probably have almost two times this on my shelves, so that's part of the struggle.) However, after having the color code system in place for a month, I think it works well and it really does look great.

It's also helped me to pare down and donate books that I no longer need to own. I don't know that I'd have been able to make that donation had my books remained disorganized. It somehow helped me evaluate my collection a little bit better.

i have to agree with the comments about finding it difficult to find what's needed. while i think the concept adorable and would love to have my books look like this, with hundreds upon hundreds (if not close to a thousand) books that i need pretty much constant access too, my visual memory only goes so far!

i recently regorganized my books by color as well, and while ist hasnt yielded results quite as pretty as seen here, it does look quite organized to me. I don't usually have a problem finding books by their color - and since i didn't sort my books at all before i did this, it was definitely an improvement.

I have to be honest. I'm a little tired of the whole Roy G Biv book arranging.

I think this is a super example of how reorganizing can alter tone... and I bet that changing just this corner had an affect on the rest of the room! For costing only a couple hours worth of work, its a great project and the end result is fun. I love your plant rocking up there with the yellows. To re-pot that guy might be my next move (basic pot with chalkboard paint?)

:)

very good eye! thanks. i like sprinkling little pieces in the library to warm up the space.

I am looking for simple, affordable shelving for my books. Where is your shelving from?

Honestly, from the local hardware store. But I have a great idea for sprucing plain shelves. Take some contact aper you like, a vintage, retro color or pattern, or even the woodgrain pattern, and cover your plain white shelves. Can really improve the look of a staple like a thrifty shelving situation.

I got to say Im in the camp of organizing books by subject matter, author, or title - never by color. Here's why: books contain information/entertainment that needs to be accessed in order to fulfill their function. Otherwise you could settle for a bunch of colored wood blocks on your shelves. Accessing the information should be as quick and intuitive as possible - i.e. Auth, Title, Subject.

So, an alternative method I've seen if you want the same look is to go to a craft store and get a bunch of sheets of colored paper and make book covers. You can organize and further emphasize the categories by grouping subject matter under each color cover: Blue for art books, Green for history, etc. A quick notation on the spine of the cover will give you the same title/author info as the spine of the book and you can have all the color you need.

I totally have that vintage Better Homes & Gardens decorating book. It's delightfully tacky, quite unlike the library. Job well done.

Yes! Dr. Bronners!! So many wonderful uses... and also the project looks great. I wonder if I could do this with our record collection, it may drive me crazy though. Thank you for showing something environmentally and socially responsible.