If you invite me to your house, the first thing I’m going to do is check out your bookshelf. Eliot? Mailer? Palahnuik? I’ll stay. Complete set of Dan Brown? … We’re going to need to talk.
The second thing I’m going to do is check out how you store your books. I’m in the market for good ideas you see, and I may just pinch yours.
Due to my wanderlust, I’ve never had the luxury of having more than a handful (or a hundred) of my books under one roof. The majority are stored in boxes in my parents’ garage. After years on the road, I dream of the day when I can unpack my beloveds and display them for all to see and admire.
Until that day, I browse for unique ways to store and display books. I’ve discovered there are two ways to approach book storage. The wrong way, where the finished product resembles a library that’s been through a spin cycle.
And the right way, which I imagine looks something more like this:
Or this:
… I know, right?
I’m working along the same concept but on a miniature scale. I rest my books in the space under the oversized windows in the lounge.
The idea is to work with existing design contours. It’s less fussy, more ordered and definitely a little bit of cool. Much like these examples, which are unfortunately not my house.
I much prefer built-in shelves to hulking, stick-y-out-y shelves. It’s as if the books are a structural component, (and therefore indispensable) to the house.
Trawl the internet and you’ll come across some crazy bookshelves. It’s apparent that many of these aren’t really about books as they could easily be admired as installation art. Ironic really, that the principle artistic value shifts from the works of art themselves, to the storage of them. Kind of like admiring a museum for its bricks and mortar, and not the treasures inside.
I’m greedy and want both. I want something both functional and artistic. Creative and yet ordered. Whatever form my book-shelvery will take, one thing’s for certain I’ll be taking a novel approach.
runningwithabook 