Good books
Find a home for your favourite books
OF ALL THE THINGS we collect throughout our lives, some of the most enduring would have to be books. Unlike other belongings that can be repurposed, recycled or given away, favourite books are often too hard to part with.
Whether it’s that classic story from your childhood, or a door-stopper of an art book, many of us just can’t seem to shrink our literary collection. What this means, is that over the years our house can become cluttered with books. Not only is this a problem storage wise, but it also makes it hard to find and display the books you want.
Here we take a look at a few ideas for arranging and sorting your household books so that they can be both a joy to read and a joy to behold.
Before you start
There’s no point in going to the effort of rehoming your books if you don’t have an emotional connection to them. This is why it’s a good idea to go through every single one that you have and evaluate whether you really need to keep them.
Ask yourself questions like, ‘Will I realistically read this again?’ ‘Will anyone else in the house read it?’ ‘When was the last time I read this?’ ‘Does it have sentimental value?’ You get the idea. Once you’ve sorted your collection, find a loved one to give your unwanted books to, donate them to charity, or even sell them online.
Finding space
Try to find a place to unify the books lying around your house. We’re not just talking bookshelves, either. If you have a freestanding staircase, you can install shelves in the ample space beneath the steps, creating an attractive and ingenious shelving system.
Your new under the stairs installation doesn’t have to just hold books, however.
Create cube sections with vertical dividers to house indoor plants, ornaments, antique children’s toys, a world globe . . . you name it.
Make sure you prep your shelves before installation. While you can paint them in a neutral Resene colour to blend with the rest of your home, you could also use this, and any other wall shelving, as a chance to add a vibrant dash of colour. A striking red such as Smashing or a deep ocean blue like Coast both look incredible against a crisp neutral background like Quarter Alabaster.
If you’re looking for a fun way to organise your books, why not display them in rainbow order so they become a feature of your room’s de´ cor.
Quirky hiding places for books
Box seats make a fantastic place to stash books if you are short on space and are simple to construct.
You can even use your box seats to add some fun to a space with dots or stripes, which is also a great idea for children’s rooms. Simply paint a base layer such as Resene Gin Fizz and allow to dry fully before blocking off the alternating areas you don’t want covered with masking tape.
Go with a contrasting colour to create the pattern — why not try small diamonds, triangles or squares as an alternative to polka dots? Two favourites are Resene Frozen and Coast, which make for a wonderful splash of nautical inspiration.
As for the fabric, search for low maintenance, spill resistant fabrics, especially if your box seats are close to the kitchen or dining room. Vinyl and laminated cotton both do the job perfectly and are a breeze to wipe clean should the need arise.
Colour archiving
If you have books you can’t bear to part with but don’t have plans to read them in the near future, create a colour coding system — simply paint a wide stripe all the way around the box and on the lid of each box with a Resene testpot colour that relates to the book type to make it easy to quickly find a book later.
For example, you might use Resene Japanese Laurel green for nature related books. Or perhaps Resene Candy Floss for children’s books. Or each family member can choose a favourite colour and each of their storage boxes can be painted in a stripe of that colour for quick identification.