Okay, the previous post was a little on the non-fiction side, and probably a bit boring for you guys. But this one, is going to be a bit more interactive.
I'm in the middle of a big clean-out of my house. I've been working on my place, cleaning it out, tidying it up and giving it a 70's vibe with the right furniture and feel since February. However, I've left the last room of this house - my home office - as it's the most difficult.
You see, I need your help as I know quite a few of you collect books and your own way of putting them in some kind of order. Mine are in bookcases, however, the room in this office is becoming quite cramped, and I need some assistance and ideas on how to store the books I have acquired over the last three months. There's some in storage boxes, and then there's some in 'Green Bags' sitting around the place.
What I'm asking is: how do you shelve your books? Do you cull your books at all? Do you have more than one copy of each book - and if you do, how do you deal with the extra copies?
I have four bookcases. One is an average sized bookcase by the door which I've had since I was 16 and I bought it from Target. It's actually the best one here and the best-built one too, as it sits forward when it's empty and back against the wall when it's full.
Then, there's the Tall Boy from IKEA and that's nailed to the wall. It almost reaches the ceiling and is stacked high with books. I've tried working out the books in it, but to no avail.
Next to this one is my 'saggy bookcase' I bought at Office Works. This one sagged the moment I put a book on its shelves... but the books are what keep it from falling down - it's an oxymoron within itself. Douglas Adams could've written this bookcase into his books as it's so weird.
Then there's the small bookcase I bought from IKEA which is overloaded with non-fiction books. It's by the window and I've gone through it twice already and it still looks like it's going to fall down and yet I can't get to my books properly.
So, how do you shelve books that are overloading a home office? Have you done this before? If so, how did you work it out? Did you add shelving to the room somehow or was there another way without throwing books out? I don't wish my books collection to move outside this room otherwise they're 'gremlin' the whole house into something I don't want. Until my next post, happy reading... and... um... help?
I'm in the middle of a big clean-out of my house. I've been working on my place, cleaning it out, tidying it up and giving it a 70's vibe with the right furniture and feel since February. However, I've left the last room of this house - my home office - as it's the most difficult.
You see, I need your help as I know quite a few of you collect books and your own way of putting them in some kind of order. Mine are in bookcases, however, the room in this office is becoming quite cramped, and I need some assistance and ideas on how to store the books I have acquired over the last three months. There's some in storage boxes, and then there's some in 'Green Bags' sitting around the place.
What I'm asking is: how do you shelve your books? Do you cull your books at all? Do you have more than one copy of each book - and if you do, how do you deal with the extra copies?
I have four bookcases. One is an average sized bookcase by the door which I've had since I was 16 and I bought it from Target. It's actually the best one here and the best-built one too, as it sits forward when it's empty and back against the wall when it's full.
Then, there's the Tall Boy from IKEA and that's nailed to the wall. It almost reaches the ceiling and is stacked high with books. I've tried working out the books in it, but to no avail.
Next to this one is my 'saggy bookcase' I bought at Office Works. This one sagged the moment I put a book on its shelves... but the books are what keep it from falling down - it's an oxymoron within itself. Douglas Adams could've written this bookcase into his books as it's so weird.
Then there's the small bookcase I bought from IKEA which is overloaded with non-fiction books. It's by the window and I've gone through it twice already and it still looks like it's going to fall down and yet I can't get to my books properly.
So, how do you shelve books that are overloading a home office? Have you done this before? If so, how did you work it out? Did you add shelving to the room somehow or was there another way without throwing books out? I don't wish my books collection to move outside this room otherwise they're 'gremlin' the whole house into something I don't want. Until my next post, happy reading... and... um... help?
Yes, I cull my books and I recently had to do so because we moved so I got rid of 50+ books that I thought might be ones that I was no longer be interested in reading.
ReplyDeleteI usually don'y have more than one copy of a book... If I do, I usually pass it along to someone I know who would enjoy reading it, donate it, or Bookcross it.
I need major help in reorganizing my books when we move into our new home next week myself. We got rid of our old/outdated bookcases and will have to buy new ones.... The key issue I have is that at least half of my books are Bookcrossing books that I will be passing along once I've read them... So, I want to buy bookshelves/bookcases to accommodate all my books, but once I read and pass along the books for Bookcrossing, I'm going to have a lot of empty space on my bookshelves/cases.... So, how or where to store the Bookcrossing books is an issue for me... I don't want the books stored all over my home in every nook and cranny either like in our previous home.... So what to do with my books is going to be an issue that I will have to br creative about solving.... Most likely, I'll be storing them in our 2nd bedroom, which will be the office/guest bedroom. Plus keep a small stack of books on my nightstand for current books I'm reading.
Wish I could be more helpful to you!! My book collection, even though I culled it, is still overflowing and huge... I may even have to do more downsizing, God forbid!!
Wow! So, I'm not the only one who needs help badly with storing books. I have my home office - which is a second bedroom really - for my books. And I've vowed to keep them all here, and nowhere else, which is a good thing. However, I do have my cookbooks in the kitchen and my gardening and art books in the credenza downstairs. So, they have to be kept where I need them.
DeleteI have tried culling books and - well - feel really bad, totally awful when I do that. I know this sounds weird, but it feels as though I'm rejecting them (okay call the people in the white coats, that sounds kooky and downright strange!), but I do form a bond to my books that makes me feel horrible if I try to get rid of them.
Was I kept from having books in my last life or something? I'm not sure... :P