This was my old bookshelf wall. We bought these shelves when we lived in an apartment and they were over 15 years old. As you can see, they were getting a bit cluttered and probably half of our books were in a big bookpile in another room and under the book desk on the other side of the room.
I unloaded all of the books from the shelves and we repurposed the shelves around the house (one now has hubby's books in his office space).
We lived with a blank wall and piles of books all over for about a week until ...
these showed up! Five Billy bookcases from IKEA.
I managed to build and position the first one all by myself!
I had a little help with lifting and placing some of the other ones (from hubby and from the cat) but I am proud to say I built them all on my own.
Finally I got all five bookcases up and it was time to position the shelves. I turned to my Instagram buddies and almost all of them voted for staggering the shelves. I agreed and so ...
the shelves got placed and the books (and movies) starting going in!
Finally, after two full days of work, the project was done. I was super sore after putting up the bookcases and hauling the books but I couldn't be happier with how it turned out. I not only staggered the shelf heights but also staggered the front alignment of the books on the shelves so that when I sit on my couch (off to the left of this picture), I see some variety and texture.
I now have a beautiful Diana Wynne Jones shelf, front and center ...
a Neil Gaiman shelf right next door ...
a Jasper Fforde cubby (which will have to be switched with a taller one after he finally finishes his next book) ...
a section of ghost and murder non-fiction (my favorite kind!) ...
my Oxfords, Penguins, and Georgette Heyers ... yay classics! ...
the Harry Potters, of course (right below Z's two cubbies of comics and graphic novels) ...
I culled quite a few books and movies during this process, created a wishlist of books that I want to buy to replace ARCs, and worked on my biceps and glutes. Moving the old shelves also allowed us to clean up T's office that was piled with books and also the workspace in our garage. It has been an amazing process. We aren't quite done but are feeling much more inspired after this. Maybe one day my library hold on The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up will finally come in (I started in the 900s and am now at position 560) and I will use some of those techniques to make this space even better!
What would your dream library look like?
Happy Book Lovers' Day!
K
Oh my. I still swoon every time I look at the pics of bookcases! I am. In. Love. And now I'm not just in love with the overall look, but with how you have your books organized too. And I'm still in love with those walls too! Now you need to share pics of the rest of the room too. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Debi! I'll see if I can get a good picture of the whole room (as soon as I get rid of a couple more stacks of books that are tucked around!).
DeleteOooh, pretty! I'm desperately in need of more book space, but am running out of space in my apartment to put new bookshelves. You are so lucky to have so much dedicated book space! :)
ReplyDeleteWe chose library instead of dining room. I've never regretted the decision. :)
DeleteA wall of books is a thing of beauty! I think mine is due for an overhaul as well, but not quite yet. By the way, I hear that the "Tidying Up" book advises you to pare down your book collection to 30 items and store them in a closet. I could never do that.
ReplyDeleteThis was definitely a long time in the making! I needed the right combination of money, time, and energy.
DeleteAnd wow ... that book strategy is not going to work for me either. I'm guessing she's not a bookish person. ;)
Nice! I think I have bookshelf envy. ;)
ReplyDeleteUsually I'm the envier so I'm very happy to be the one with the pretty shelves this time. :)
DeleteI love the look of your new bookcases! I'm hoping to buy a few Billy bookcases once I move into my new place. Like Debi, I think you should take pictures of the whole room. :-)
ReplyDeleteDon't tell anyone but I've just measured the opposite wall for more shelves ... ;)
DeleteThe new bookshelves are gorgeous!!
ReplyDeleteHow absolutely lovely it looks! I always think books make wonderful decorations.
ReplyDeleteI think so too, especially with the recent focus on jacket design. And this has put me in the mood for SO MANY rereads. :)
DeleteI don't really keep a lot of books (fewer than 100 on my shelves now) but MAN its tempting when I see beautiful bookshelves like this!!
ReplyDeleteWow. I don't think I could ever choose only 100. Although, I probably could if I had to. Luckily, at the moment, I don't have to. :)
DeleteGORGEOUS!!!! And I really like the staggered look of the shelves as well. Makes me a bit tempted to ditch my big bookshelves and get a Billy Bookshelf...though I'm in the process of purging books (sad face). Thanks for the tour! I bet you can't help but smile when you walk by them. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you! I was happy that the Billy shelves ended up fitting so nicely into the space. I did end up purging a lot (8 bags to the local indie and Half Price) and I could probably do some more. In fact, if I want to put anything else on the shelves, I'm going to have to purge! But I do love looking at all my books at once for the first time ever. :)
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