42 UHeart Organizing: Books Galore!

For me, there is something about a book that technology will never replace.  The colors.  The feel.  Turning physical pages.  Whenever I get the chance to curl up on the couch, I prefer looking through books vs. reading on the iPad or laptop.  And I am excited to continue to grow my collection of good reads, not only for myself, but for my kiddos as well.  But those books pile up.  So Megan, from Honey We're Home, is here today to share how she keeps all of her books kept and displayed around their lovely home.

Over the years, our family has amassed quite a collection of books.  My husband and I both love to read, and, although he has recently become an iPad reader, I'm still an old-fashioned, paper bound kind of girl.  The question becomes, though, what do you do with all your books?  We have donated tons,  but I like to keep most hardcovers around as I believe the books in our home tell a story about our lives and who we are.  They proclaim our interests, hobbies, and sometimes desires or fantasies {50 Shades anyone??! Am I the only person who hasn't read that book yet?!}

Books bring life to a room in the way they are collected and displayed.  I like them in almost every room of our house; in bookshelves, on tables, and in nightstands.  You can stand them upright or lay them on their sides, spines facing out or in,  jackets on or off.  You can even pile them on the floor in a deliberate stack.  Some people organize their books by color, subject, or author.  I've seen books beautifully recovered in wrapping or specialty paper to change the look.  

Below are photos of my home and how I've styled rooms using books as decorative objects.  

LIVING ROOM

We are fortunate to have a large custom built-in media center in our family room.  It's the focal point of the room and I wanted it to be full of books, photos, and necessary objects, like our tissue box and clock.  As you can see, I used all hardcover books as they are the prettiest and most substantial, and varied the colors to bring some energy to the room.   I tried to keep the shelves visually balanced by having some symmetry between the right and left sides of media center.  

I "cheated" (haven't read) and bought some of these books at Half-Priced Books in the clearance section because I wanted similar height books for the top row in varying colors.  Another great find for books is garage sales!  They typically go for pennies!

Have fun with your books, it's okay to lay them horizontal and top them with decorative objects since you're most likely not pulling them out to read everyday anyway.  Think of them like art and get creative with the placement.  I probably agonized way too long over the styling of this media cabinet (and I still play around with it from time to time), but that's the fun part, arranging and rearranging things until they look pleasing to your eye.

BEDROOM SITTING AREA

In our bedroom, my main focus for the bookshelf was books that were serene in color, to flow with the rest of the bedroom.  I chose shades of tan, aqua, and white. 

And in the shelves where our television sits, I added a few more vibrantly colored books and some decorating books, since that's what I'm most likely to be reading in here. 

HOME OFFICE

Books provide a great opportunity to create a vignette in a room.  For example, in my office, I placed four books on a bright yellow tray, and topped it with a fun-patterned dish and vase of daisies.  I think the arrangement looks playful and cute. 

I like how the white books contrast against the bright pink-lacquered box and paper weight. 

You can also think outside the box when it comes to bookends.  This lovely white ceramic owl does the trick pretty well, as does the box above. 

HALLWAY

I had to have one moment of a rainbow bookshelf.  This has been with us for two years and I'm already itching to change it up, but it was fun for awhile.

NURSERY

Being 2 1/2, our son isn't a baby anymore, but nurseries and kid rooms offer lots of opportunities to bring in books with special memories for our children.  The fuzzy bible was a gift from my mom to our son, and the bible below that was mine when I was a child.

KITCHEN

I am a self-proclaimed cookbook addict.  As you can see, I've got every Barefoot Contessa Cookbook and lots of others.  There are more in my pantry, but my favorites are stored in the kitchen island for easy assess.  I like the punch of color the books bring to our mostly-white kitchen.  The horizontal books act as bookends for the vertical books.

I hope this post inspires you to get creative with your books.  Thanks for having me Jen!  

"My name is Megan and I am a lawyer by day, design and decor lover by night, and Mama to the sweetest 2-year old boy you've ever seen. I'm passionate about fitness (and chocolate!) and could not live without my relationships, girl talk, and my morning coffee. I've been blogging for two years over at Honey We're Home, sharing my love of keeping things organized and beautiful at our house.  My efforts to live in the moment and cook more are an adventure in progress."