This is probably a better topic for the book blog, but since a) this is the first day of November, and if I am going to set myself up for the best chance of completing NaBloPoMo (which I am still on the fence about! day by day, folks!) (go check out San’s blog to see who is participating this year) I should probably post on this, the first day of the Mo for which I would be BloPoing, and b) this is both a Book Topic and a General Life Topic, as it concerns the state of my home, and c) I have already been neglecting the book blog for so very long, why not continue in the same vein, I am going to discuss it here, instead.
(You: Get to the point.) (And also use shorter sentences going forward.)
We just moved in to a new house. Me, my husband, my daughter, and our eight million books.
In the old house, we had five bookcases, plus one in Carla’s room, plus three half-size bookcases. We organize our books into rough categories and then alphabetize the books in each category by author.
Carla’s books are easy; they will live in her room.
My new office, while demonstrably larger than my old office, still only holds three bookcases. (This is one of the perplexing non-problem “problems” of the new house; we have much more space but far less wall space.) Probably we could squeeze another one in there… or maybe even two additional narrow, glass-fronted bookshelves.
We have a big, empty wall between the piano room and the living room, and the plan is to install some additional bookshelves there, as well. Maybe something like this.
We have moved the other three existing bookcases – two are black and one is brown – into the basement. Our nonfiction collection will largely live there. My office shelves and the wall unit and maybe the built-in shelves in the living room will hold our fiction collection and all my poetry books. I would also like my writing books (the non-fiction that won’t live in the basement) to live in my office.
I have a small “tree” bookshelf in my bedroom that holds Books I (Think I) Want to Read Imminently.
So we’ve figured out our rough categories and where each category will live… now all we have to do is alphabetize them and put them on the shelves. (Well, except that some of the shelves don’t yet exist.)
Except we’ve run into a quandary.
We’ve squeezed all three of my bookshelves together into one unit. Should we treat each shelf as a separate bookcase, and alphabetize that way, so that Bookcase 1 might have authors A-C, and Bookcase 2 might have authors D-F and Bookcase 3 might have authors G-K?
Or do we alphabetize across all three, as though they are one giant bookcase?
This is a very fun problem to contemplate. Except that I already started shelving the books according to option 1, and am loathe to redo the work.
What would you do? And how do you organize the books in your house?
Also, apropos of nothing (except that it is tangentially topical), do you think I need this customizable vase shaped like a book? I really think I need it. Maybe you need it too.
I am kinda sorta attempting to complete NaBloPoMo, with the full expectation that life will make it impossible any day now. If you want to follow along, or join, check out San’s blog here.
I can tell you what we do at the library where I work: option 1. We just had to make this decision recently about some temporary shelving while work is being done in one area of the library. We felt that once there was a WALL (i.e., the edge of the bookshelf), the books go DOWN to the next row.
Ooooh this is a good rule!
Definitely option 1!
😊
How do you organize the books in your house? Welp, I think of books as friends and as decorative elements, SO we have a bookcase in the office with my favorites in it. Three bookshelf units in a spare bedroom that have my husband’s favorites plus mysteries plus old antique books. And we have a coffee table in the living room where we put TBR books on the bottom shelf of it. As incentive and as decoration. I really like that tree bookshelf and am wondering if we need one.
“As incentive and as decoration” <– YES. The tree bookshelf really allows a book's decorative properties to shine. I think you do need one. 😉
Oh, I vote for option 1! Because if you ever decide to move the bookcases so they’re separate, you don’t have to rearrange the books at that point.
When I moved, getting my books on the shelves made me feel so much more settled! I was just looking at the bookcases last night and thinking how funny they are, with new books next to 30-year-old books next to 100+-year-old books, but they’re me, and they make the space mine. I hope having yours set up will help you, too.
Very good point about moving them! And yes, getting books on the shelf has made such a difference. They really make a home feel lived in.
I agree – Option 1. Love the new office and what a cozy reading nook ❤
Look at all those happy books. Such a cheerful, beautiful sight.
Don’t they just make a room feel happier?!
LOLOLOLOLOL. How do we organize books? This is hysterical. There is not enough bookshelf space in our home, so the organization is “put it somewhere it sort of fits and won’t fall off the shelf and hurt someone.” This sorting like you’re living in a library is life goals for me.
If I could live in a library, I would. 100%.
Yay NaBloPo!
There is a wonderful book called Rebuilding Coventry by Sue Townsend where the narrator describes her wish to have a bookcase in her bedroom that she calls her “harem”. I have my own bedroom “harem” that is somewhat organized by author with the favorites on the top shelf. After that I have two other bookcases from my single life that are downstairs and shared with family. I’ve never asked, but I’d bet money that the rest of the family doesn’t have an organization strategy.
(Notice how I avoided your questions about advice on how to organize your books and a replacement light fixture for your office…I’m smooth like that ).
Hahahahaha – yes, very smooth Birchie. A harem!!! That is so charming.
Option 1 – you’re doing great sweetie 🙂
We just have them organized by category and that’s it. We have an adult bookshelf, a big kid bookshelf and a little kid bookshelf.
Clearly, I get a little overly rigid about organizing, because I could go even further into subcategories… but I will not! LOL.
Hi Suzanne! Do you happen to have a way to remove my last name from my comment? I didn’t catch that it had been saved in WordPress and autofilled…
Ha, our “book organizing system” is also just like Engie’s. I’m very impressed that you’re actually so organized. Like most of the other commenters, I think I would go with option 1. That’s how libraries do it, right?
And I’m also loving the tree bookshelf. I feel like I saw that recently on someone else’s blog (maybe Stephany?). Anyway, i want one!
Books make a house SO homey. I hope you get them organized and it helps you feel better about things!
There is probably a word besides “organized” that would apply more accurately 😂
And yes, having books on the shelves makes things feel SO much better.
Oh yes I can totally understand both your lack of reshelving motivation and your twitchiness! And agreed about not being mad at the windows while also wanting some space to put furniture.
I think you go with option 1, if for no other reason than YOU STARTED THAT WAY. Go with it.
We have some bookshelves in the kids’ rooms, but I do not have a bookshelf. The horror. I know, I know. I have a small stack of books in my closet, or are they in a drawer? I mostly use the library, so this problem is not something I have to deal with. I do like to read, and I do aspire to be organized. I have enough trouble organizing my home without mountains of books.
Good luck with NoBloPoMo. I’m in a similar boat. I’m giving it a go, but life happens. We shall see.
I definitely understand the appeal of keeping all “your” books at the library. Someone else can take care of them and keep them organized!
“(This is one of the perplexing non-problem “problems” of the new house; we have much more space but far less wall space.)”
This is absolutely us also! We went from a 1000 sq ft apartment to a 2500 sq ft house and yet… It’s not that I mind all of the windows, and ledges and such, it’s just that I would *also* like to have a few more big, blank walls on which to put art and bookcases.
Right now our books are organized like NGS- put it somewhere it fits and won’t immediately fall off. We have three lovely, huge built-in bookcases in our living room and I had grand fantasies of organizing by type and author before we moved in- I had it all planned out! Then my husband, in a fit of ‘I can’t take these boxes everywhere anymore’ decided to unpack all the books and put them on the shelves all willy nilly when I wasn’t around. And in order to put them in any sort of order, I’d essentially have to take them all down again, sort them, and then reshelve them, which is hard to motivate myself to do when there are so many other things that aren’t getting done. But it makes me twitch every time I look at them!
I love the color of the walls! And books add such character and coziness to any room.
Thank you! I love the color, too! It’s the only color we kept from the previous owners, but it’s a good one!
I think the way you’re doing it is excellent and the very best option! I have no system at all and it shows.
Hahahaha — sometimes no system is the best system!
Option 1. Most libraries do it this way, I think. Except maybe with children’s books.
I had never thought about libraries’ actual systems… and now I am questioning whether our library does something different with kids’ books. I will have to look!
I love seeing all of your books. I really want more room, for more bookshelves. As is, I tend to hide them behind other books on the shelf, so my husband won’t say we need to purge again. We’ve had to do that a couple of times, and IT SUCKS.
YES. More room for more bookshelves! All the books! And I agree that purging books is so hard.
So, are you planning to eventually have a bookshelf that extends entirely across that blue wall? Floor to ceiling? That was my first thought if I had a free wall like that. And that color on that wall is so pretty.
Yes to option 1. That is the only way that makes any sense.
Book organization here is pretty loose – mainly because I don’t have the time or the space. Oh, I suppose I could put in a giant bookshelf upstairs somewhere – but half the time, I honestly forget we have an upstairs; so I don’t think that would work well. Generally, I file my books (pretty much all fiction) by author. All my Stephen King books go together, etc. At least, that’s the way it started when we moved here. Since then the books pretty much get crammed in wherever I can make them fit. Or else, they get used in a decorative fashion. Currently, there’s a stack of books on the mantel and on a side table in the living room. The nightstand is where any TBR books reside (also with some already read books that need to find a home).
I think the office wall is complete as is. There’s a door on the left side that makes it unlikely we could fit another bookcase there, and I need symmetry, so I’m not going to add one on the other side. BUT! We have a separate blue wall in a different part of the house that will hold the imaginary giant bookshelf. I will post photos at some point.
I used to put my TBR books on my nightstand but my husband grew legitimately concerned that they would fall on me and crush me in my sleep, so he bought me that tree bookcase, LOL. He’s a good man.
Ooooh gorgeous office and I love the colour of the paint! It’s stunning! I know what you mean, our new house is so much bigger but because of all the windows, actual wall space isn’t unlimited. I don’t alphabetize my books. They are more arranged by theme, although I do always have everything by an author together.
I would love to hear more about this theme concept! How granular do you get? And say your theme is loss, do you have poetry next to memoir next to fiction?
No, I would put all poetry together, and then I would put all of my favourite women authors together. Classics would go together. So it’s not super granular, but it works for me.
I love your bookshelves! But, I feel the weight of your choice – once you commit, it’s hard to change course. Personally, I go down through a shelf and start again on the next; this has made for less rework when I’ve needed to switch shelves out or around. But I also love looking at piles of books everywhere, so I am probably not the right person to weigh in this Wednesday!!
As a fellow book piler I think you are exactly the right person to weigh in. 😉
Option 1 here too, although I laughed when the person said it’s better if you have to move them – hadn’t even thought of that.
I might do a twin post for this, but it will make you cringe – we have a shit ton of books, but ‘organizing’ would be a kind term for my idiosyncratic shelving system.
New office is gorgeous – love the paint colour, and the rug. Less wall space would suck a bit, though.
Thank you! 😊 And just because I am overly rigid about needing to know exactly where every book is at all times doesn’t mean that I am incapable of appreciating other ways. I like books – in piles, under tables, organized by color, on the floor, in the bathroom. The only thing I cannot abide is books with their spines facing the wall. How…??? Although they do look pretty that way so who knows. Maybe I could abide it if I had an explanation.
Mine are by color LOL
Option 1! That way, you can have space to insert more books without having to displace too many, is my thinking.
My books are not at all organized. They sit in great stacks on the floor, separated into “Little Free Library Acquisitions” and :Public Library Books” so I can keep track of which books need to go back. The books we do have are scattered across various book shelves and also a linen closet that we have dubbed the “library” because we have filled it with books.
Oh, your old office was lovely with the French doors. Sigh. The new office is nice too with the big window.
How do we organize our books? I don’t think we have enough books to warrant an organizational system… I just organize them by size, I guess. So it looks somewhat organized? LOL
May I remind you my friend that you entered NaBloPoMo with the same disclaimer and then went on to nail it?? 😉 Just saying. And I saw that you officially signed up…. so….! *grin*
Our large collection of books has no organization whatsoever and it makes me sad. Beth tried to fix the problem by paying North a quarter book to catalog them, so each book’s location is recorded in their phone (e.g. top shelf, left bookcase in parents’ room, or Box 11 in the basement). I would like all the books on shelves and organized but there are so many higher priority projects I can’t imagine doing it.
I did Option B when I was shelving my books because I like the idea of treating it as one giant bookshelf, but I can definitely see the merits of Option A! I also love the look of sorting books by color, but some people think that’s an insane way to organize books, haha.
Do I need that tree bookshelf???
We had a similar situation where we moved into a bigger house but has less wall space. But I had majorly downsized my book collection… like by hundreds of books… does that make me sound like a monster? I just found that so many of my books no longer reflected my taste and that I would never read them again. So now we only have one bookshelf in taco’s rooms with kids books, there are shelves built into Paul’s bed frame and the rest of our books fit on the shelves of our window seat. And I gave up on alphabetizing because it was such an onerous process! I hope you come up with a solution!!
I would have treated each book case as their own, so you’re good in my book. 🙂 Love your office!
Build.com has great light fixtures and they ship fast and are competitive. Maybe something simple in a brushed nickel? Or a ceiling fan? We can’t live without those in our home.
I honestly ONLY keep books that I think I’ll read again, or are sentimental. I don’t like any clutter, I have few walls and no need to hang onto all books aside from all the kids books I couldn’t part with that are in the old playroom.