5 Clever Ways to Store Books, According to an Apartment Dweller That Has Over 500 Titles

A book lover’s apartment is easy to spot. They likely have piles of thrillers, biographies, and everything in between stacked throughout their home. Nina Haines, for example, is a marketer, writer, and creator by trade, but she’s also the founder of an online book club with more than 6,000 members. Needless to say, she’s collected a few books over the years. While her collection has grown to over 500 different titles, she lives in an NYC-sized apartment (900 square feet to be exact), so she’s had to get creative when it comes to storing her personal library.

“My friends come over and borrow books all the time, and I keep track of who borrows what so it really is quite like a library!” says Haines. “That’s what sold me on the place originally — the built-in bookcase in my office/second bedroom.” The built-in bookcase is certainly a superstar, but I’m even more impressed with all the additional nooks Haines has carved out for her ever-growing library, giving people storage ideas for their own homes.

This likely goes without saying, but only a non-working fireplace is a smart place to store books. Since plenty of apartments and homes have non-functional fireplaces, you might as well take advantage of the dead space for some book storage.

You’ve probably seen lamps like this before, styled with a succulent and maybe a book or two, but Haines has cleverly used hers as a place for excess books. It takes up the same square footage as a standard floor lamp, but it provides a spot for a small stash of stray titles.

If you want the spines of your books to shine, consider mounting them to the wall with invisible floating shelves, like these ones from Umbra. Each of the shelves can hold up to 20 pounds, which means you can probably stack at least 20 books on each one.

In case you haven’t been blessed by the real estate gods with built-in bookshelves like Haines (or, like her, you just need more storage space!), a leaning ladder-style bookcase is a classic and and low-profile option for housing a ton of volumes.

Not sure what to do with that awkward space above your TV? A set of bookshelves can solve that. Here, Haines has mounted two wood plank shelves with black brackets for both an industrial touch and as added storage spot for her books.

Plenty of mid-century style media consoles have one closed and one open compartment, like Haines’ piece seen here. Use the closed side to squirrel away cords, card games, and various odds and ends, and use the open side to display more books.