A family discusses bookshelf designs: aesthetic, organizational, and practical preferences as they seek to creatively store their beloved books.
Dear reader,
I’m on the phone to my youngest daughter. The matter is of some importance, because a decision must be made. Do she and her sister want floor-to-ceiling bookshelves in their room? Or do they want space for a running bench too, with bookshelves above them?
We go back and forth with the pros and cons, but in the end she says, “I just want to wake up and see a wall full of books in front of me. It’s so relaxing.”
And so the matter was settled.
Another reader and I decided to be practical. We need storage space and a shelf for small items like a lamp and a vase full of flowers. We design the bookshelves four and a half feet above the ground. Below we are building drawers 16 inches deep that go up to 33 inches high.
As for me, I want to cram all the things I love into one place. Books, paintings, desk and sitting space.
I started taking pictures of the bookshelves I loved, in bookstores and libraries around the world, and sometimes even in people’s homes (with their permission!). I check my photo library for inspiration. Then I go to Pinterest and find exactly what I’m looking for.
In my study I will have benches on windows and walls up to 20 inches high. Then I’ll have four feet of wall space for backrest seating and paintings, and then just from five and a half feet high I’ll start my bookshelves, which will then reach the ceiling and go through the door as well, just as you see in this “inspiration” photo.
The problem in our house is that people keep buying books and no one wants to give up their books. Girls also want to keep all their children’s books. The other reader and I are equally bad. So we need to be very scientific about designing our bookshelf – cramming in as many books as possible, and yet being able to see the titles of each one.
That’s why ready-made bookshelves do not suit us. Most prefabricated bookshelves are very deep and also very high. So you end up stacking your extra books behind each other, which is very frustrating as you can no longer see the titles.
Here are my top three tips for fitting as many books as possible into a limited space
Build shallow bookshelves—anything from 8.5 inches to 10 inches deep works great. A few of the larger, wider coffee table books can be placed on the bottom shelf of your bookcase where they will spill over a bit but still look good.
Change the height of your bookshelves. The bottom shelf should be 13-15 inches high to accommodate your larger books. The middle shelves can be 10 or 11 inches high. You can happily have a few shelves 9 inches high or even 8 inches high where paper books will fit. And if you absolutely need to file your books neatly by subject, you can create a pile that “lays down” at one end.
Create book nooks wherever you can. If you have pockets of space, for example between cabinets and columns, or small nooks anywhere, they can be great for books. I’m even building bookshelves into the kitchen island. These books will be 12 inches deeper — and 14 inches taller — than regular books, since recipe books are generally large.
Then there is the issue of the materials you use for your bookshelves, the thickness of the shelves as well as the color you paint them.
We have used both marine laminate and wood in our bookshelves. The shelves should be at least 1 inch thick, because books are heavy and you don’t want your bookshelves to sag in the middle.
Another decision to make is whether to give your bookshelves glass doors. The glass protects your books from dust but also repels it and adds a layer in between. This is why I reject glass, and prefer to go straight to books, not to mention that I add the trouble of dust, dust, dust. It’s worth it.
With colors, I love olive green and blue whenever I see them in libraries and other people’s homes. But when it came down to it, I ended up alternating between painting a white coat and using wood. The white color is the perfect backdrop for all your colorful book titles, while the natural wood has the warmth of old bookcases. So it’s a difficult choice.
My one exception to taking in as many books as possible is adding all kinds of knick-knacks to my bookshelves—art, pictures, teapots, mugs, even money plants.
Then there’s the issue of how to arrange the books—the other reader wants them neatly arranged by topic, no matter how high. When I try to arrange them aesthetically, he gets upset and points out that I’m superficial. One day I came across a little book called The Bookshelf by Lydia Payne, part of Bloomsbury’s delightful Object Lessons series. It had entire sections on how many book lovers arranged books by size and even by color!
Tell me, dear reader, what does your dream bookshelf look like? Are you team stained paint, clean white or classic wood? Do you lean toward a neatly organized system, or do you embrace the beautiful chaos of overflowing shelves? Hit reply and let me know – I’d love to hear your thoughts (and see the corners of your book!).
(Sonia Dutta Chowdhury is a Mumbai-based journalist and founder of Sonya’s Book Box, a personalized book service. For all questions on life and literature, email sonyasbookbox@gmail.com)
