The Art of Arranging a Bookshelf

I don't know what the art is but there has to be one. The final furniture piece of the nursery was purchased and built, the bookcase. This was an important aspect of the room because I needed something that would hold as much storage as possible. This is actually my main priority for any piece of furniture we consider buying. We're in a 1925 bungalow and apparently our generation hoards more ‘stuff’ than the Roaring Twenties? Crazy, I know. The only real storage we have is the closet in the nursery, the closet is the width of the door; it’s small. In the two years we’ve owned the house this room started as a storage room, then Nate’s office, a TV den and now the nursery.

Although I think I’ve done a pretty good job at being a minimalist this closet is still half full so there’s not much room for baby storage. I’m trying to figure out the most strategic way to store everything within the room, including S’ books. Have you ever tried to organize books on a bookshelf? It’s like the task of arranging flowers, you assume it’s a brainless task but it becomes a drawn out activity where you feel clueless.

Do you line the books tallest to smallest? This was my obvious first choice but then it looks awkward when you have extra long books that over power the spine of the narrower books. Do you separate these different sized books? Color-coding the spines looks really neat but confusing when you actually try, and what color comes first?

I’m a Google-r. I couldn’t take rearranging the books and having them all fall like dominos any more, nine months pregnant or not. These are a few of the most common styles I found so if you ever find yourself needing to arrange a bookshelf, hopefully this gives you a good starting point!

Stacking vs. Standing: Standing is second nature and easier to remove and replace but stacking can look more aesthetic. In my case I had a couple extra small shelves available so I pulled my favorites out to stack. The more baby stuff I buy in the future I'm sure these will end up with the rest of the books.

Alphabetically: This isn’t something I would normally spend time doing but this does sound like a GREAT idea when your child is learning their ABCs and how to properly alphabetize. Let them put away their own books on the shelf!

Color-Code: Since I don’t have a ton of books, the color-coding part wasn’t difficult. Deciding if I should include the extra wide books is where I was stumped, so I attempted the color-coding but needed to stick with the sizing of the books. 

Besides the books, the rest of the shelves are still a work in progress but I at least found a way to store the stuff I didn't know where to put. The upper grey box is holding all extra diapers and wipes and the lower grey box is holding all the extra swaddles and bed sheets. The colored box is storing all her toys and the mason jar has pacifiers. The glider is being delivered this week which is LAST major piece of furniture so a full nursery update will be coming soon!!