"I am unpacking my library. Yes, I am. The books are not yet on the shelves, not yet touched by the mild boredom of order. I cannot march up and down their ranks to pass them in review before a friendly audience. You need not fear any of that...
"Instead, I must ask you to join me in the disorder of crates that have been wrenched open, the air saturated with the dust of wood, the floor covered with torn paper, to join me among piles of volumes that are seeing daylight again after two years of darkness, so that you may be ready to share with me a bit of the mood--it is certainly not an elegiac mood but, rather, one of anticipation--which these books arouse in a genuine collector." 
For those of you in the transitional phases of moving, unpacking, or reorganizing...Look for inspiration in the disorder.
Tina Wilson's Striking Style 
30 DIY Projects for the 3-Day Weekend
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Dunes & Duchess Can...
Make Chocolate Magic Shell Ice Cream Topping with Only 2 Ingredients
Magic One-Ingredient Ice Cream 5 Ways: Peanut Butter, Nutella, and More
Comments (4)
I'm trying to make out the titles of the books. I too am a book lover, avid reader, writer, and User Interface designer. I have hundreds of volumes of books. As much as I love to eliminate visual clutter, I cannot for the life of me, understand how people can organize their books by color. Good design always takes usability into consideration. How do you find anything if it's organized by color?
I organize my books by color. I just remember what color a book is that I need. I'm visual like that.
They are by subject as well, though. The photography/art/theory books are in my office, novels are in the tv room, and the textbooks are hidden. No one wants to look at "Biology and You" while sitting down to a cup of coffee. ;)
PS - I have such a love hate relationship with Benjamin. But this is a good quote.
I just started to keep track of my books, in www.librarything.com, strongly recommend it.
HP:
The top book is Vitamin P: New Perspectives in Painting, which I love! All those other big, old books were just acquired yesterday (free from Craigslist) and are in Italian...art history, archeology, etc.
i have never even tried organizing by color, it seems counter-intuitive to me (as far as books go, but not with most things).
Rachel, i find it fascinating that you do organize that way.
Shape/size is the key to me. i mix up subjects as much as i mix up color, and it doesn't bother me or my sense of order at all. anyone else?