Apr
16
Organizing Books by Color
Color coding a book collection became a hot design trend last year, but had yet to reach HGTV. So when I saw it show up in none other than Ms. Kim Myles’ room designs, I was thrilled.
(More pictures of the makeover)
For book lovers, this is one of the simplest ways to turn your bookcase eyesore into an art exhibition. If you don’t have books in each color of the rainbow, start by grouping like colors anyway. It’s what I like to call “healthy therapy” for die-hard organizers (like you and me).
I’ve been posting some of Kim’s do-it-yourself projects seen on Myles of Style over at her blog. Check out her Cookie Tray Table (in the picture above) and Glass Ball Chandelier to get your DIY fix.
This is one of those times I will say that I have to disagree with this design solution. Sorry….I am an AVID book lover…and my bookshelves are FULL of (what else) books!!!
I found that I can still achieve a good design in my room (even with shelves full of books NOT laying flat or interrupted with unnecessary vases, photos, etc).
My “library” is sorted by putting my good quality hardcovers in order – by author and genre (which any real avid book lover will appreciate) and all of my not so tidy paperbacks are “hidden away” in wicker boxes, still in alpha order). They eventually find their way to the next donation pile to the nursing home or local library.
Sorry – I know – but this is a pet peeve of mine.
I practice the art of must be Pretty & Practical Design…and it has to be useful and functional for me to like it.
I currently have four full bookshelves and they are FULL of books – which creates a welcome retreat for me in my home…and placed in ORDER so I can find my favorite author or subject immediately when I am ready to relax. Imagine trying to find my favorite Design book (and trying to remember…was that a blue book or a red book?)
Sorting books by color?
That just doesn’t make sense at all.
Books are to use and read. I much prefer my book case to be convenient arranged with my books grouped according to subject such a bird books, travel books cookbooks….
I like the effect with the white bookcases. I am such a visual person that organizing books this way makes not only a decorating statement, but just sense to me. I may try this as I need to liven up the shelves in my livingroom. Doubt that I will share this idea with the local library!
Really? Seriously?
I guess if you have books solely as a design element (or if you only have a few books), then this might work – in the same category as going to flea markets to buy “old books” just to decorate your shelves, or covering all your books in plain paper to “look nice.”
If, however, your books are something that that you actually use and refer to regularly, this seems silly. Can you imagine going to your local library or bookstore to get a book and finding the books organized by color? How on earth could you *find* a book that way?
There are other ways to combine a personal library and a nice visual presentation that would make better sense – like keeping open space on your shelves, mixing non-book collections in, etc.
I think this obviously depends on whether or not you frequently use or read the books!
I have an overflowing bookshelf in my living room that I recently ordered by color. I feel it helps a lot to organize the space visually.
OF course, I don’t ever read or refer to any of these books. There are very few books I refer to frequently, and I would simply give these a special place so I always know where they are.
This is a great idea for visually organizing your books…especially if you’re a visual person!
I actually really like this effect – and I do have a ton of books (that I actually read!) organized this way, and I still find it easy to locate a given book. Maybe I just have a more visual memory?
This gets a lot of criticism by people who consider themselves “serious readers,” as if organizing books in any way other than library-style means you only own them for looks.
But I think it depends on your organizational style.
I personally am an avid reader, but I am also visually oriented and remember what my books look like. If I remember a plot but not the title, I’ll usually be able to picture the color/size of the book before the author’s last name.
So I think this system can be totally valid, even for people who actually read their books, if it makes sense to them. But it’s definitely not for everybody.
I think it is a very nice visual! Remember, you don’t HAVE to arrange ALL your books this way. This could be one special nook or area to just brighten up a spot, making it a ‘happy’ place to sit and read. Perhaps magazines like ‘home’ or ‘garden’ magazines, breauchures, etc.could be placed here.
Putting books in a bookcase by color is a bad idea. Trying to sort through books sorted by color makes no sense. I.E., If you have twenty cookbooks all in different colors how would you ever find the book you need.It may be stacked with garden books or mechanic books of the same color. What a headache that would be and how much more time out of my day this would take to find what I need. Poor design idea. To many other options to add interest to bookcases. Cookie sheet as a table, BAD, BAD, BAD idea.
I have taken several home staging classes and I have not ran across this idea yet. I have seen where the book covers have been reversed to create white books in the book shelf. I like this idea of grouping colors together. It adds a pleasing punch of color to the shelves. May not be practical for reading. But this is about design.
>>May not be practical for reading. But this is about design.<
But good design *should* and *does* take practicality into account. You don’t ignore how one moves through a room when you place furniture, do you? Or, wouldn’t you consider the purpose of a room when you choose furniture and fabrics? You wouldn’t put dry-clean-only white silk on a sofa in a family room where children and pets would be.
That’s what distinguishes design from art – meeting a purpose or need in a visually successful way.
We all have a different sense of what is asthetically pleasing to our eye and our own sense of “great design style”.
My personal style is to create practical comfort zones that work with my hobbies, my passions, my lifestyle and my favorite color pallets.
This particular design solution holds little value for me, I rather see a bookshelf full of my favorite books in a myriad of colors and in an order that saves me time to go to that ONE particular book I want, nice and straight – not sected off in color blocks separately…and definitely NEVER laying on their sides (looks unkempt to me).
My bookshelf design solution – a personal solution is to 1)not buy books impulsively, 2) purchase them in a consistant format when possible, and 3)showcase the good quality ones and camouflauge the “not so good” ones in textural containers. I borrow from my library all the time…and once read, I know exactly the books I want in my personal collection – ones that I will enjoy and refer to over and over.
I prefer to do more than decorate my shelves, they reflect my passion for reading…and again, it is a matter of personal taste – just like my comfy leather recliner and colorful handmade afghans vs the armless chair syndrome and store-bought throws.
I agree arranging books by color is NOT workable for me. I have over 125 linear feet of books on built in bookshelves. The only way they are organized is by author so I can find something if someone else wants to read a specific book or I want to see if I already have a book by a specific author. I would, however, like some ideas for how to put all my “friends” in a smaller house when I downsize.
Beverly,
I completely understand – when you have that kind of library, getting rid of books is not usually an option
You might try organizing your books by category first (cookbooks, novels, history, etc.) then set up each category as a separate “mini-library.” Most rooms can take at least a small bookcase, and that way the mass of books won’t be so overwhelming in a smaller space.
Hope this helps!
Day late here…but Bev, I totally feel your “pain” here. Love to read, love to share…love my “friends”.
Helena’s idea is a good one, I have a few mini-libraries throughout my home.
I have a collection of bird-watching books that are complied in a large, over-sized wicker picnic basket that sits out in our sunroom for easy access when we are enjoying the birds outside our windows.
But – I do give up some of my “friends” when they no longer keep my attention, become outdated, or I absolutely don’t read them anymore..and then I donate them to someone who will enjoy them.
I have to politely disagree with those who think this type of display is impractical or nonfunctional (and not just because I wrote the post!) It seems like some people here are implying that if you organize your books like this, you don’t like reading. That is simply not true.
For visual people — like Kim and her homeowner clients — this technique absolutely works because they remember the book’s cover sometimes much more than all the words inside. Alphabetizing, organizing by genre, using baskets — these things also work, but just because someone chooses not to organize this way doesn’t mean they don’t like to read.
I love to read and I love books, and of course this type of design isn’t going to work for everybody. My friend, for example, keeps a Dewey Decimal-like catalog of her book collection it’s that big.
But for me, who borrows more than buys, this is the perfect solution for identifying my books quickly without the headache of trying to make their mismatched shapes and sizes look nice next to my knick-knacks.
Good discussion everybody. I appreciate your interest!
It doesn’t matter if you read or not, books, lots of books look wonderful on “BOOK shelves” If you had just a lot of mixed bowl, vases, etc., it would look funny. You add those things in w/ the books. The more books the better, but make room for other things as well.
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No..to organizing books by color. I recently organized an engineers library. He wanted books organized by subject matter. Wow, was that a challenge!! I could just see my trying to convince him that they should be organized by color. I would have been booted out of his home.
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