Day 69: For the Love of Books (PART 1)

I have a lot of books. And by "a lot," I mean, way more books than I care to count right now!

I have some books packed away in boxes and in clear, plastic storage bins in my attic (mostly text books -- from both my student days and my teaching days), but then there are the "other" books... the reference books, the just-for-fun books, the classic books, the silly books, the I'd-read-them-over-and-over books, and the really-big-books-that-I-might-not-ever-read-but-they-look-cool-and-I-keep-them-around-anyway books! ;)

However you look at it, there has to be a place for all these books. And as a neat freak, I MUST have a good place for them. That means a place that LOOKS good and a place that WORKS well! Oh, and consider these two other things: books don't have to be in a specific order (the Dewey decimal system is not mandatory) AND books don't have to be standing up to be displayed.

That being said, I guess there' a bit of an art to storing/displaying THAT many books... all around the office and all around the house. So, I am starting here in my office, to show you what I've done with the books that I believe might be most helpful here (as reference or as inspiration)!

Here on my desk, within arm's reach, I keep dictionaries, reference tools and books that might be of immediate help for grammar conundrums or punctuation puzzlers. I have a few stacked underneath my desk lamp and others in height order right beside it. Cute. And useful!


If you look over my cabinets, you'll see the remainder of my books. Some I have lined up neatly in between my bookends, using the tallest books toward the middle and the smaller ones toward the ends.


And the books on the other side are arranged with some books laying flat and stacked up next to the ones standing up, also in height order. I've also thrown in few odds and ends (storage boxes, a basket with greenery and some plush friends) to finish the look.


Maybe this helps inspire you on how to create a useful and aesthetically pleasing arrangement for your books!

(Come back later to read about neat book arrangements around your home!)



Now, THAT's neat!