And the project has made a start. First job was to clear the corner so that both bookshelves can be pushed together. My partner, let’s call them J, and I had creative differences in how all this was going to happen. Also, we had to find a place to put all the stuff we moved. That wasn’t fun. But I know my own book shrine is going to be so worth it!
Newly blank space!
The next step was to move the smaller shelf over to the corner. This was where we had creative differences. J wanted to just move the shelf with the books on it.
I was like, “No way we’ll be able to lift that.”
And J was like, “LET’S GO EXCELSIOR WHO CARES ABOUT SPNIE DAMAGE WOOOOOOOOO!”
And JUST BECAUSE J was technically correct in that we could lift the shelf without taking the books off, doesn’t mean that this was necessarily the best course of action.
But low and behold, there it is, and I was feeling extra excited to take the books off the next shelf and move it….
Until I discovered that J had a plan to try and lift the larger bookshelf with the books still on it. Another heated discussion ensued but, as always, J got their way….
This book case was @#$^in’ heavy I will tell you that much. But, as with before, we could TECHNICALLY lift it with all the books on, doesn’t mean in any way that this should have been done. *shakes fist in impotent rage*
Thus step two of my bookshelf journey has been achieved.
What’s left to do?
-The books still all have to be removed.
-Then they need to be reorganised to look beautiful.
-Then the shelves need to be decorated.
Most of the bookshelf tutorials I see are for people with like 12 books and a massive shelf so they need to cram ornaments on to fill up space. But I know that’s not the situation we’re in. A situation where there’s hundreds of books and an increasing lack of shelf space.
So I’ll be decorating my shelves to maximise book space as well as try and create a harmonious look to the way the books are stacked.
Tune in next time to see how I go!
Shala Howell
If you have to touch all the books anyway — and if you aren’t morally opposed to it — try organizing your books by color — all the orange ones on one shelf, the blue ones on another, the black ones on a third, etc. It’s a remarkably lovely way to freshen up bookshelves without resorting to knick-knackery. I love it because it’s much easier to maintain than organizing books by author or genre. Also because I can nearly always remember what color a book is, even if I can’t remember, say the author or exact title. So having my shelves of fiction organized by color cuts down dramatically on the number of shelves I have to look through to locate a particular book.
Erin Burns
Shala, I love that idea, about organizing by color. Kat, I hope you survive the ensuing spinal deformities.
Brigid
IT’S EXCELSIOR OR NO WAY KAT. LISTEN TO THIS GENIUSERY.
P.s. I may be biased since my motto is crazy messy chaos is the BEST WAY
Anne
For those of us who use bookshelves for actual books (as opposed to object d’art plus a random book or two), the ready-mades don’t work for long because they waste too much space on 12″ high shelves. And overall they’re never tall enough.
benish
I agree about organizing by color, it sounds very unique & pretty – hope your organizing goes well 🙂
My Little Bookshelf Part 4 | Cuddlebuggery Book Blog
[…] moved them together and reorganised my books and then finally decorated it. And the end result? Perfect for what I need […]