The Book Lover’s Guide to Organizing Books
/I love books. I like owning physical copies of books. Sure there’s some convenience to e-reading, but nothing beats the real thing—holding a book, the feel in your hands, the scent of the pages. As a home organizer and minimalist, it’s unique that I also own a pretty good-sized collection of books. Books are one item that I never push my clients to get rid of, unless it’s something they want to purge. But, when you own a small library’s worth, it’s important to have a good system in place for sorting, organizing, and tracking what’s on your shelves.
It’s common to see those Instagram-worthy images of bookshelves decorated with a few color-coordinated books and the perfect balance of decorative elements. If that’s what you’re looking for, I have a post for that! But what about the people who’s shelves are filled with books?
Where do all the books go?
I’m a firm believer in having books in every room of the house. Why not surround yourself with the things you love? Storing books throughout your home is a great way to create ample space for your entire collection. Categorize your books by room to create order—biographies and business in the home office, travel books in the guest room, cookbooks in the kitchen, pantry, or dining room, fiction in the family room, kids books in the playroom, you get the idea.
How should books be organized?
When storing books in multiple rooms sorting by genre may just be enough to keep track of what you own. For large collections, you only have to look as far as your local library to find a tried and true method for keeping order in the stacks.
Sort first by genre, then alphabetically. If you really know your books, you can alphabetize them by author’s last name, but you may find it easier to sort by title—skipping first words like A and The. One exception to make is when you have a series of books—sort them by the series title or author, then chronologically. Sorting books by color is another effective way to achieve an orderly look, and you may be surprised at how well you remember a book by the color of its cover.
What about the books I haven’t read yet?
Keep your ‘to be read’ titles easy to find amongst all your other books. Designate a shelf—or three—for those books, then put them in their proper place once they’ve been read. Alternatively, you could store your ‘to be read’ books on their appropriate shelves, but lay them horizontally in a stack to differentiate from the books you’ve finished. Another stylish way to keep these books separate is with a book cart.
Can you have too many books?
While this post isn’t about encouraging you to purge your books, there are likely some titles that aren’t worthy of keeping. You could sell or donate the unwanted books, or consider compiling these books in a basket or on a shelf for friends, family, and visitors to take what appeals to them without the pressure of returning it.
If you still have more books than shelf space, store seasonal books along with seasonal decor—The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, The Greatest Gift, and The Christmas Cookie Cookbook, with the Christmas decor, The Shining and Practical Magic with the fall decorations.
Can shelves be functional and stylish?
Be sure to display your books in a way that is not only functional, but looks great and reflects your personal style. Here are some things to keep in mind...
Don’t push books all the way against the back of your shelving—place them close to the front of each shelf to create a clean, flush line. Not only will your books look tidy, but it will be easier to read the spines. Keep books with similar heights together, or arrange from tallest to shortest. Laying some books in horizontal stacks adds visual interest to your shelves. Baskets can be used to conceal books you’d rather not have on display.
Once your books are sorted and in place, add in decorative elements as your shelf space allows—framed photos, small plants, and accent pieces. If you want to learn more, check out my post How to Style Shelves.
Want more organization?
There are numerous apps that can help you keep track of your library digitally—Bookpedia, LibraryThing, Goodreads, Libib, just to name a few. These apps make it easy to list the books you own, note what you’ve read, leave a rating, add books to wish lists, quickly search your library to avoid buying duplicates, and some can even keep track of books you lend out.
