Stylish Ways to Display Your Bookshelves
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IMAGE USED WITH CLIENT PERMISSION
Displaying your books and collectibles in an attractive and uncluttered manner is something that anyone can accomplish with just a few hours over the weekend. If you’re ready to transform your bookshelves, keep reading for our best tips and tricks.
Step 1: Gather and Discard. Complete a thorough review of all of your books. Gather them from around your home, from your nightstand to various shelves and consider the space that you have available. On average, you can fit twelve books in one foot of shelf space.
Step 2: Categorization. After reviewing what you will keep and what you will donate, it’s time to consider how you personally want to display your books. Do you want to list them alphabetically by author? Do you have distinct categories, such as travel, gardening, memoirs and cookbooks that you want to group together? Do you want to go for a more aesthetically pleasing look and display your books in a rainbow based on the color of the spine? Maybe you want to display your books by date purchased (or written). And you might even want to dedicate an area to books that you have not yet read so it’s easy to choose your next read. Once you choose your method, gather your books in the appropriate categories.
Step 3: Placement. Once you’ve decided on your categories, you’ll be able to start placing your books on the shelves. A good rule of thumb is to display 70% of your books vertically and 30% placed horizontally. When placing books horizontally, be sure to put the largest books on the bottom, particularly for oversized books. If your horizontal stacks are short enough, don’t be afraid to add a small decorative object on top.
To bring added personality to your bookshelf, be sure to incorporate small pieces of artwork, family photos, keepsakes and decorative objects. Just be sure that these are all items you love and enjoy and that bring you pleasure to see. Be sure to stick to the “two-thirds rule,” only fill two-thirds of each shelf with books. By making sure that your books have breathing room, you’ll appreciate the visible emptiness and create space for those special decorative items. For a more minimalist feeling, leave those spaces empty.
A final note on book placement. When placing your books on your shelf, pull them forward to the front edge of the bookshelf. This small detail will add a simple uniformity to your bookcase that is visually appealing.
More Organizing Ideas
Need even more ideas on how to organize your home? Living. Simplified. is ready to help. Take a look at these blog posts or send us an email at lauren@livingsimplified.net and we can work together to reach your organizing and decluttering goals:
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