bookcases and shelves

Whether you go for custom built-ins, freestanding bookcases, or mounted shelves, these storage stalwarts put wall space to work and free up other surfaces. Use one or a combination for an ultra-organized space.

go vertical

Stacking books on the floor or atop furniture is certainly one way to store them; here are other, more orderly options that will keep your volumes—and your living room—in pristine condition.

• Built-ins offer space-saving storage and seamless design, and are especially useful at flanking a fireplace or camouflaging your TV and consoles (see page 124 for ways to manage the media). They’re also worth the investment for anyone with a sizable collection of books.
• If built-ins aren’t an option, you can achieve a similar look with freestanding or wall-mounted shelves, particularly if you cover an entire wall and add trim pieces painted to match.
• Having floor-to-ceiling cubbies or shelves creates the biggest impact and provides the greatest storage; being able to customize the configuration over time means you can accommodate different items at various stages of your life and as your interests wax and wane.
• To showcase volumes with striking covers—say, books on architecture, photography, travel, and/or art—you could create a gallery wall by mounting floating ledges and resting the books on top, covers facing out.

curate the cubbies

Organize books and objects like you would anything else: Start by winnowing your collection to what you want on display (store the rest elsewhere, or donate), then plot out an arrangement. As you place items on shelves, step back now and then and reposition them until you find a look you like.

• Unless it’s a library look you’re after, it’s better not to cram books in all cubbies, or even end-to-end on an entire bookshelf. Besides being more appealing to the eye, leaving some open space will make cleaning the surfaces, and taking down and putting up favorite reads, so much easier to do.
• Arrange the books in a way that looks good and makes sense to you—whether that’s alphabetical by author, by subject, or by color, width, or height—or even just randomly.
• Accessorize the shelves by incorporating ceramics, sculptural objects, framed photos, collectibles, even houseplants—pretty much anything you admire and that enhances the overall effect.
• If the unit will double as entertainment center, carve out one shelf at eye level for the TV; you can even tuck a small speaker in one cubby or on a shelf without it announcing itself, then hide unsightly routers and other devices in closed cabinets down below (if shelves are mounted to the wall, station a media console beneath to stash it all).