That looks awesome. Seriously, next time we have a book self (um, two and a half years time?) I am so going to colour co-ordinate it. Which will completely freak out the part of me that wants to dewey decimal system organise my books... sigh (I can't win).
I did that once before, and thought I was mighty clever. Made it hard to find a specific book though, and so I went back and rearranged them all alphabetically by author...
Ha! This reminds me of something that happened when I was teaching 7th grade. A student of mine was aghast at the sheer number of books I had bought for the classroom library that week, and she gave me this gem of a quote:
“Miss S–you know how you constantly buy books? Even though you have a lot? When you keep doing something even though you don’t need to? That’s called a compulsion. And it’s a sickness.”
I am definitely not well if buying books is a sign of sickness.
Well I, for one, am drooling. It's like a scene off of the bookshelf porn website. (Take a look at the website...You will swoon and want to tear off all your clothes.)
But I'm wondering what criteria you used for deciding whether books with mostly white should go on the white shelf or the colored shelf, because I see some anomalies. I'm guessing there's some mathematical criteria, similar to the way they judged race in in the Apartheid days...
7
Starla Nov 11, 2010
Are they ALL travel guides? WOW. Seriously. Impressed!!
8
AlisonC Nov 11, 2010
Soo pretty! I think I might have the same disease.
You ROYGBV'ed your books! No wonder Sean married you!
11
Alyssa Nov 11, 2010
My bookshelves look shockingly similar! Even down to the actual books (lots of Lonely Planets here too). I recently restacked the already color-coordinated shelves and then gazed at them for approximately 45 minutes sighing with satisfaction. My roommates do not understand, which is fine, as long as they just let me DO. MY. THING!
If it's a disease, I have it too. Am in the process of doing this to the bookshelves in our office. And of course in process means all the books are in piles all over the floor because I am agonizing over what shelf which color should go on.
OOoh, love. How long did this take you? I want to do this to my books but am afraid I'd get sidetracked halfway through and spend the next few weeks tripping over giant piles of books stacked on the floor.
14
A. Nov 11, 2010
I did that to my bookshelves, too. Apart from looking awesome and being soul-satisfying to gaze upon, I find it way easier now to find my books. when I picture them in my head, I see what color they are. I never remember who wrote what.
15
Julie Nov 11, 2010
And the librarian falls over dead at the thought of things being out of order. THUD.
Seriously, very pretty, but books must be in order. ;)
Lovely! I do my books the same way, and everyone who walks into my house is either in love with the rainbow of books or completely horrified ("How do you FIND anything???"). But, honestly, almost no one really alphabetizes their books and keeps them that way, and I can almost always find any book I want within a minute.
I did my books the same way, and I LOVE IT. I did not, however, love the process, most of which involved me downing glasses of wine and crawling over books. Looks lovely---I love your built-in!
18
Nothing But Bonfires Nov 11, 2010
Kate -- I'm not in love with the ones on their sides either, but I seem to have a lot of big red, yellow, and orange books and the big ones wouldn't fit standing up!
Pieces of a Sometimes Extraordinary Life -- I know, I'd kind of lost steam by the time I got to the white books. Might need to do a little rearranging. I sort of want an entire shelf of plain white books, like they have in IKEA.
Starla -- nope, definitely not all travel guides! That would be insane!
Ris -- didn't take too long. We JUST had the built-ins finished so our books had been in boxes for the last four months and I was eager to unpack them. Probably took an hour one night to take them all out of the boxes and stack them by color on the floor, then an hour or two last night to actually put them on the shelves. It was incredibly soothing and therapeutic, but then I'm a freak like that.
A -- EXACTLY. Sean's argument was that we'd never find anything like this, but I always picture my books by color anyway (maybe something to do with the fact that I also picture the days of the week by color?) so it's actually easier for me to find a particular book this way. Besides, we never alphabetized them to start with: I separated out the poetry and the travel guides on our old bookshelf, but aside from that, I've always just lumped all my books together, so this is a vast improvement in organization for me!
19
Andrea Cox Nov 11, 2010
You and I, we have the same disease. I've learned to embrace it.
20
Rachel H Nov 11, 2010
I totally did this and while everyone who comes over loves it and thinks it's adorable, I cannot find a specific book for the life of me.
It drives me crazy but it looks so nice.
21
Nothing But Bonfires Nov 11, 2010
I know, I kind of just wanted to do it to see if I could do it -- and to see what it would look like -- but I think there's a 50/50 chance I'll end up reorganizing everything in a couple of months if I get sick of it.
22
Alyce Nov 11, 2010
I think it's lovely. I'd probably throw a trinket or two in there to spread them out. Or a plant or a clock or a statue or a vignette. And I'd want the stacked books (a look of which I am very fond) to not all be on the left side of each shelf. But I'm weird like that. Not assvice, I promise.
23
WendyB Nov 11, 2010
Love, love, love the built-ins. I can't wait til we live in a house where we can have them.
I'm a category sorter, al the travel together and then sorted by area. All thrilles together and then by author. I'm not sure if I could do the color thing just b/c I'd never find anything! This did make me think of a cruel April Fool's joke for my husband's DVDs though...except that he'd make me put them back!
And I do think you were at a great advantage doing thir from the packed boxes rather than taking thing off shelevs or moving around shelves.
Just had to drop in and say I loved your comment on Whoorl today. My thoughts *exactly.
Just curious- what pair did you buy that don't make you look like an "80's video??" (just got first pair of knee high boots, and need skinny jeans that I can actually wear- with a few extra pounds goin' on:).
29
Nothing But Bonfires Nov 11, 2010
Torrie -- I don't know what brand they are, just some black corduroy/velvet-ish skinnies I found at TJ Maxx. Sorry, that's not helpful in the LEAST, is it?
30
Sheila Nov 11, 2010
I think it looks great, but am I ever allowed to come back to this blog if I admit that it took reading the comments for me to see that they were in ROYGBIV order?
31
Rachel Nov 11, 2010
All my clothes and books are organized by color! I love how it looks. I'm super jealous of your giant bookcase!
That looks so lovely...but good luck finding anything. That's the main reason I don't arrange by color....also because I don't think I have enough color variety in my book collection and our bookcase shelves are varied in size so certain books only fit on certain shelves.
I have my books organized by colour as well. I think it looks so pretty. I do not have nearly as many books as you though - if I had built-ins like that I may try to aquire more!
(I read almost exclusively on a Kindle now - I know, for shame - so I don't need as many hard copies).
I don't think it's a disease. Look for the "rainbow books" pool on flickr!
you know, as pretty as this is, it's a decorating pet peeve of mine. only because i'm a super-organized person and it would drive me crazy to have them sorted like that. alphabetical by author, then by title for me. but lovely to look at yours! :)
40
Tara Nov 11, 2010
If that's a disease, I want you to sneeze on me! I could use some organizing mojo in my house!!
I did that in my old apartment and it made me realize that though I thought I remembered books by the colors of their spines, I actually remember them as the completely wrong color. It sure was pretty though, so I didn't mind too much!
i would totally organize my books like this. once i have managed to collect enough for it to make sense, anyway. i usually remember things by what color they are, so this method would be quite logical for me. and, pretty! love the look of it on the white shelves.
I love it! A dear friend of mine did this in her house and I had to do a double-take at first and then I was like - SO GLAM. My books are too boring in color to pull it off myself. Well done! (random reader in Minneapolis)
I love color organizing (and your shelves look lovely!), but I seriously can't do it with my books. I've tried! And then I had to go back to being completely anal about organizing them by author and title. I actually have a dream to one day have a library big enough to warrant the use of an old-fashioned card catalog system. IF ONLY.
Ohhh. How lovely! To echo what others have said, we do our books alphabetically, in order to be able to ever find anything, ever. But this looks so nice.
Oh my god/goodness. I think i am in love. Mine are loosely content catergorised, and they are somewhat size categorised...but i am so inspired now. the mind boggles with all the options...oohhhhh
Wow! I thought I was the only one who did that to my bookshelves! I think it looks fabulous.
63
Alicia C. Apr 19, 2011
Still catching up (Slow as molasses I know). Gosh Holly, I can't tell you how happy that photo makes me! My husband wont let me do it though. Ours are by subject (sort of).
Nov 11, 2010
oh, no! oh, no!!
You are completely eradicating my very strong belief that people who love books won't sort them by colour or lay them on their sides.
...although I am completely and utterly jealous of your built-ins.
-K
Nov 11, 2010
That looks awesome. Seriously, next time we have a book self (um, two and a half years time?) I am so going to colour co-ordinate it. Which will completely freak out the part of me that wants to dewey decimal system organise my books... sigh (I can't win).
Nov 11, 2010
Well, I'll be damned!:-)
Nov 11, 2010
I did that once before, and thought I was mighty clever. Made it hard to find a specific book though, and so I went back and rearranged them all alphabetically by author...
Nov 11, 2010
Ha! This reminds me of something that happened when I was teaching 7th grade. A student of mine was aghast at the sheer number of books I had bought for the classroom library that week, and she gave me this gem of a quote:
“Miss S–you know how you constantly buy books? Even though you have a lot? When you keep doing something even though you don’t need to? That’s called a compulsion. And it’s a sickness.”
I am definitely not well if buying books is a sign of sickness.
Nov 11, 2010
Well I, for one, am drooling. It's like a scene off of the bookshelf porn website. (Take a look at the website...You will swoon and want to tear off all your clothes.)
But I'm wondering what criteria you used for deciding whether books with mostly white should go on the white shelf or the colored shelf, because I see some anomalies. I'm guessing there's some mathematical criteria, similar to the way they judged race in in the Apartheid days...
Nov 11, 2010
Are they ALL travel guides? WOW. Seriously. Impressed!!
Nov 11, 2010
Soo pretty! I think I might have the same disease.
Nov 11, 2010
That. Is. Awesome.
Nov 11, 2010
You ROYGBV'ed your books! No wonder Sean married you!
Nov 11, 2010
My bookshelves look shockingly similar! Even down to the actual books (lots of Lonely Planets here too). I recently restacked the already color-coordinated shelves and then gazed at them for approximately 45 minutes sighing with satisfaction. My roommates do not understand, which is fine, as long as they just let me DO. MY. THING!
Nov 11, 2010
If it's a disease, I have it too. Am in the process of doing this to the bookshelves in our office. And of course in process means all the books are in piles all over the floor because I am agonizing over what shelf which color should go on.
Nov 11, 2010
OOoh, love. How long did this take you? I want to do this to my books but am afraid I'd get sidetracked halfway through and spend the next few weeks tripping over giant piles of books stacked on the floor.
Nov 11, 2010
I did that to my bookshelves, too. Apart from looking awesome and being soul-satisfying to gaze upon, I find it way easier now to find my books. when I picture them in my head, I see what color they are. I never remember who wrote what.
Nov 11, 2010
And the librarian falls over dead at the thought of things being out of order. THUD.
Seriously, very pretty, but books must be in order. ;)
Nov 11, 2010
Lovely! I do my books the same way, and everyone who walks into my house is either in love with the rainbow of books or completely horrified ("How do you FIND anything???"). But, honestly, almost no one really alphabetizes their books and keeps them that way, and I can almost always find any book I want within a minute.
Nov 11, 2010
I did my books the same way, and I LOVE IT. I did not, however, love the process, most of which involved me downing glasses of wine and crawling over books. Looks lovely---I love your built-in!
Nov 11, 2010
Kate -- I'm not in love with the ones on their sides either, but I seem to have a lot of big red, yellow, and orange books and the big ones wouldn't fit standing up!
Pieces of a Sometimes Extraordinary Life -- I know, I'd kind of lost steam by the time I got to the white books. Might need to do a little rearranging. I sort of want an entire shelf of plain white books, like they have in IKEA.
Starla -- nope, definitely not all travel guides! That would be insane!
Ris -- didn't take too long. We JUST had the built-ins finished so our books had been in boxes for the last four months and I was eager to unpack them. Probably took an hour one night to take them all out of the boxes and stack them by color on the floor, then an hour or two last night to actually put them on the shelves. It was incredibly soothing and therapeutic, but then I'm a freak like that.
A -- EXACTLY. Sean's argument was that we'd never find anything like this, but I always picture my books by color anyway (maybe something to do with the fact that I also picture the days of the week by color?) so it's actually easier for me to find a particular book this way. Besides, we never alphabetized them to start with: I separated out the poetry and the travel guides on our old bookshelf, but aside from that, I've always just lumped all my books together, so this is a vast improvement in organization for me!
Nov 11, 2010
You and I, we have the same disease. I've learned to embrace it.
Nov 11, 2010
I totally did this and while everyone who comes over loves it and thinks it's adorable, I cannot find a specific book for the life of me.
It drives me crazy but it looks so nice.
Nov 11, 2010
I know, I kind of just wanted to do it to see if I could do it -- and to see what it would look like -- but I think there's a 50/50 chance I'll end up reorganizing everything in a couple of months if I get sick of it.
Nov 11, 2010
I think it's lovely. I'd probably throw a trinket or two in there to spread them out. Or a plant or a clock or a statue or a vignette. And I'd want the stacked books (a look of which I am very fond) to not all be on the left side of each shelf. But I'm weird like that. Not assvice, I promise.
Nov 11, 2010
Love, love, love the built-ins. I can't wait til we live in a house where we can have them.
I'm a category sorter, al the travel together and then sorted by area. All thrilles together and then by author. I'm not sure if I could do the color thing just b/c I'd never find anything! This did make me think of a cruel April Fool's joke for my husband's DVDs though...except that he'd make me put them back!
And I do think you were at a great advantage doing thir from the packed boxes rather than taking thing off shelevs or moving around shelves.
Nov 11, 2010
i'm right there with you. my sweaters are organized by color.
Nov 11, 2010
Ooh, Alyce, that's a really good idea: I'm going to move the yellow stacked books to be on the right, rather than the left, to mix things up a little.
Nov 11, 2010
I love how some of the books are turned sideways. I think that adds so much interest to a shelf where all you have room for is books.
Nov 11, 2010
I have the same sickness. It's both a blessing and a curse.
Nov 11, 2010
Just had to drop in and say I loved your comment on Whoorl today. My thoughts *exactly.
Just curious- what pair did you buy that don't make you look like an "80's video??" (just got first pair of knee high boots, and need skinny jeans that I can actually wear- with a few extra pounds goin' on:).
Nov 11, 2010
Torrie -- I don't know what brand they are, just some black corduroy/velvet-ish skinnies I found at TJ Maxx. Sorry, that's not helpful in the LEAST, is it?
Nov 11, 2010
I think it looks great, but am I ever allowed to come back to this blog if I admit that it took reading the comments for me to see that they were in ROYGBIV order?
Nov 11, 2010
All my clothes and books are organized by color! I love how it looks. I'm super jealous of your giant bookcase!
Nov 11, 2010
That looks so lovely...but good luck finding anything. That's the main reason I don't arrange by color....also because I don't think I have enough color variety in my book collection and our bookcase shelves are varied in size so certain books only fit on certain shelves.
Nov 11, 2010
I have my books organized by colour as well. I think it looks so pretty. I do not have nearly as many books as you though - if I had built-ins like that I may try to aquire more!
(I read almost exclusively on a Kindle now - I know, for shame - so I don't need as many hard copies).
I don't think it's a disease. Look for the "rainbow books" pool on flickr!
Nov 11, 2010
It kind of is... love scouring the racks of TJ Maxx! Thanks for your quick response!
Nov 11, 2010
Couldn't stand it because my books have to be grouped by genre and chronology (I hate alphabetizing) but I have to say, it looks completely awesome.
Nov 11, 2010
This makes my heart happy. I organize by color as well. :)
Also, your section of Lonely Planet books makes me drool a little, so many amazing places!
xox
Nov 11, 2010
i DO this too.
Sometimes by height, or author, but i always prefer by colour.
i have SO many red books.
Nov 11, 2010
Knowing you and Sean.. you guys have it organized by continents.. right? right?
Nov 11, 2010
you know, as pretty as this is, it's a decorating pet peeve of mine. only because i'm a super-organized person and it would drive me crazy to have them sorted like that. alphabetical by author, then by title for me. but lovely to look at yours! :)
Nov 11, 2010
If that's a disease, I want you to sneeze on me! I could use some organizing mojo in my house!!
Nov 11, 2010
What lovely bookshelves!
I did that in my old apartment and it made me realize that though I thought I remembered books by the colors of their spines, I actually remember them as the completely wrong color. It sure was pretty though, so I didn't mind too much!
Nov 11, 2010
i would totally organize my books like this. once i have managed to collect enough for it to make sense, anyway. i usually remember things by what color they are, so this method would be quite logical for me. and, pretty! love the look of it on the white shelves.
Nov 11, 2010
Do you only buy books that match each other? That's pretty coordinated of you.
Nov 11, 2010
Last year I arranged my books chronologically. You know you have that tag "reasons I need therapy"..........
Nov 11, 2010
I love it! A dear friend of mine did this in her house and I had to do a double-take at first and then I was like - SO GLAM. My books are too boring in color to pull it off myself. Well done! (random reader in Minneapolis)
Nov 11, 2010
...a very pretty disease at that.
Nov 11, 2010
But HOW! will you find anything?! It's one thing to remember what color the cover is, but it's another to remember the spine. Now THAT's a disease.
Nov 12, 2010
I color-code my books, too. If I don't, I can't fall asleep at night. No, really.
Nov 12, 2010
Oh my cheese-its, and I thought I was bad!! Sheesh!
Nov 12, 2010
that's amazing.
Nov 12, 2010
I love color organizing (and your shelves look lovely!), but I seriously can't do it with my books. I've tried! And then I had to go back to being completely anal about organizing them by author and title. I actually have a dream to one day have a library big enough to warrant the use of an old-fashioned card catalog system. IF ONLY.
Nov 12, 2010
Well, now I know what I'm doing tonight!
Nov 12, 2010
Ohhh. How lovely! To echo what others have said, we do our books alphabetically, in order to be able to ever find anything, ever. But this looks so nice.
Nov 13, 2010
How wonderful!
Nov 13, 2010
It looks great! So bright and cheerful! I would love to have some bookshelves like that but unfortunately most of our books sit in boxes.
Nov 13, 2010
Not really loving this look. I think it needs to be broken up a bit, some other various objects thrown in to break it up for the eyes.
Nov 13, 2010
Oh my god/goodness. I think i am in love. Mine are loosely content catergorised, and they are somewhat size categorised...but i am so inspired now. the mind boggles with all the options...oohhhhh
Nov 13, 2010
I arrange mine by color too. And have since developed the ability to locate books based on the color of their jacket/cover! Yay!
Nov 14, 2010
I like it. A lot. I wish I had thought of it. Full stop.
Nov 14, 2010
I totally want to do this.
Nov 16, 2010
amazing. want to re-arrange my bookshelves for me too?
Nov 16, 2010
Wow! I thought I was the only one who did that to my bookshelves! I think it looks fabulous.
Apr 19, 2011
Still catching up (Slow as molasses I know). Gosh Holly, I can't tell you how happy that photo makes me! My husband wont let me do it though. Ours are by subject (sort of).
Post new comment