I have a teenage daughter who is very creative. It’s always been apparent in the way she dresses and in her hobbies and interests, but recently she reorganized her bookshelves in a way that might seem counter-intuitive to all but the most visually-minded.
Yes, her books are organized by color! I think it looks great, but unless she remembers what color a book is (which actually does usually get imprinted on my mind as I read it), it might be hard to navigate.
How do you organize your bookshelves? By author? Genre? Age-level? Or perhaps a more practical method of size or shape or use?
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I do think that is very appealing visually, and you do usually remember the color of books, at least the ones that made the most impression, and often a vague idea of where they usually are on the shelf. Still, I like to organize mine by genre – I have so many, that’s the easiest way for me to keep track of them. I have about 4 shelves of biographies organized alphabetically by the last name of the subject. Fiction is organized by last name of the author. Christian non-fiction that is not biography is organized by subject. When we first moved here, we went from four bookcases in the last house to two here, with no room in the family room to add any more. Gradually I acquired a bookcase in the sewing/craft room for books on sewing, crafts, and decorating, and a small bookcase in my bedroom for marriage and “mom” books plus some miscellaneous. And I still have a few books stored in boxes. 🙂 I thinned them out when we moved and probably should get rid of more, but it’s hard for me to let many of them go.
When we moved 2 years ago, I had SO many boxes of books. I unboxed most of them and got rid of some of them when I realized I couldn’t store them.
Your daughter has the eye of an artist! I love it. My own shelves are loosely organized by genre … “loosely” being the operative word. And alas, I’m running out of bookshelves, so I’ve been forced to start doing the literary equivalent of double-parking. I am finding that it is very hard to remember what is behind the outside row. I need a better system. Maybe I’ll get some ideas here ….
Yeah–mine are pretty loosely organized too, but I generally know where they are.
I’m a librarian wannabe. My books are separated into Picture Books, Early Readers, Advanced Readers and Non-Fiction. The non-fiction is approximately arranged according to the Dewey Decimal system, and the Early/Advanced Readers are alphabetical by authors last name. Of course, my kids can never remember where things go. My mom arranges her books by size.
My kids’ books are pretty much organized by genre, but you got me on the Dewey Decimal categories 🙂
We recently moved and I am still trying to unpack my books. However, before the move my books at home were shelved alphabetically by author. At school my books are shelved by genre. This next year we are adding another bookcase (I currently have 7) and it will hopefully house my series. It is troubling trying to find a sequel to a book amidst the other books in a genre.
I like series being shelved together. My daughter’s school library did that, and it is very helpful, especially in series like 39 Clues that has different authors!
Currently I do NOT have things organized and that is sort of driving me a bit crazy.
Love Amanda’s style! That has a cool look to it!