What Do You Do When You Run Out Of Bookshelf Space?
Do you like reading books? If yes, you must have read many books or own a vast collection of books, including novels, journals, magazines, comics, and educational books. Having a huge library may be fancy and good but is the storage in your home enough to hold all your books? One must be innovative enough to think and come up with a solution to the question of, “What do you do when you run out of bookshelf space?”
It can be a frustrating and stressful situation. Maybe you’re moving, or you have acquired more books. But no matter what the reason is for the lack of bookshelf space, these tips will help:
- Get rid of old books that you don’t need anymore
- Rearrange your current book collection to make more room
- Make use of vertical spaces by hanging shelves from the wall
- Consider buying an e-reader
This post will offer additional tips for finding the most efficient book storage space in your home.
WHERE ELSE CAN YOU STORE YOUR BOOKS?
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Store on a Fireplace Mantle
Mantels make a fantastic way to display decorations and candles. Store your favorite books, turning the spine inward or outward, or placing them face out on top of mantel shelves as well! Add some decorative items like plants and vases a home to this new space too for an even better focal point that’ll be sure to catch everyone’s eye.
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Inside The Fireplace
Fireplaces are useless if they’re not in use. If you find yourself living with a fireplace or hearth that’s never been used, there could be an opportunity for storage and organization on your hands! A fireplace or hearth may be the perfect place to store books stacked up against one another or you can build bookshelves for a neater look.
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Bedroom Spaces
The bedroom has many spaces that can be transformed into book storages spaces. Some examples of what you can do are listed below:
- The foot of your bed is one place in the house that can be turned into a mini library! All you need to do is add shelves and throw down some books. It’s never too early or late for reading, so take advantage of this spot by making it both comfy and cozy at reading time.
- Your headboard may seem like it’s taking up the only available space in your bedroom, but with a few changes you can make this area work for storage too! By creating shelves above your bed or even just adding something to lean against the wall such as a small table that sits on top of an ottoman chair. You can stack books behind your bed without having them take up any floor space at all. This makes it easy to pick a book for a cozy bedtime reading session.
- Under-the-bed shelving is a great way to store books if you have the space. You can install shelves under your bed, keeping them visible but out of sight!
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Arranging Of Your Books in the Attic
Arrange your books in the open ceiling area (attic). The ceiling is a possible area which, when well utilized, can be good storage. Pile your books in that open area. Here you can stack as many stacks of books as possible. The attic is usually is free from a lot of human and pet traffic thus making it such a good area to store your books.
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Putting The Books In A Box Or Suitcase
Another option is to use large storage bins and suitcases to store your books. These would have ample space that can accommodate many books. They also provide a dry and dust-free space which is vital for book safety. Arrange your books in a closed box or suitcase to store in your home or at storage facility away from your home.
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The Space Between The Staircase Poles
The space between the staircase poles can hold so many books when properly utilized. You can make shelf-like structures between the staircases and stack your books in a vertical manner. Stack your books in the spaces and create visual interest with knick knacks in between. The staircase provides an excellent area to store your books free from a lot of traffic.
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Use The Space Under a Bench
If you’re like most people, you have a bench in your home that is not being utilized for its full potential. Rather than placing decorative items on it, consider using this space to house your books at various heights or even displaying some of them with their spines facing outwards horizontally. Both techniques will create an interesting and visually appealing display. It will also making sure all those expensive hardbacks are neatly tucked away where they can’t be knocked off onto the ground by someone walking by.
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Build Tall Corner Shelves
Corner shelves can provide a huge space compared to a table or the normal shelves. Corner shelves when built tall enough and well-spaced can help give room for many books without even touching the surface area of your room or office. For example in an office, you can erect a corner shelf on any corner or all the corners of your office and store your books.
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Store Your Books In Crates
Store your books in crates and place them strategically in the house or office. You can place the crates on the floor or the table. Arrange books properly in the crates and stack them horizontally or vertically to create visually appeal.
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You Can Arrange Your Books On The Hallway
One of the best ways to make your hallway feel more like an extension of your living room is by getting creative with book storage. The hallway provides a space that can be used to help store your books and gives the home a cozy and classy feel and look. All you need to do is put up some long planks of wood horizontally on the hallway wall and arrange your books attractively with horizontal and vertical book arrangements.
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Covert a Closet or Empty Pantry into A Mini Library
Create your own private mini-library by converting any spare pantry or closet into an inviting space. Remove anything that would prohibit you from installing shelves and light up the area so it is a comfortable spot to read in peace. You can also replace your existing door with glass for maximum visibility of all the bookshelves inside!
12. Convert a Wall
The ultimate way to show your love of reading is by covering an entire wall with books. In place of hanging frames, decorations or patterned wallpaper, fill the accent wall (or all walls) in a room with shelves covered in books for the perfect book-lovers decor!
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Computerize Your Books
For most people, the idea of “computerizing” their books is a daunting and emotional task. They may not know where to start or how to get all the information they want on one device. Thankfully it’s not that hard. With Amazon Kindle, about 90% of the worlds most beloved books are already digitalized on Kindle. This means you can download your favorite books online. This will take away the fear of loosing your beloved hard cover books forever. You are thereafter free to use the hard cover books as you wish- as decorations or donate them.
How to Care for your Stored Books
1. Keep Away from Humidity
Keep your books away from humid places. Though it is obvious that moisture ruins books, most people forget about humidity and its effects on paper over time. Humidity will cause your pages to warp and stick to each other, making the book hard to open.
Depending on how humid the storage place is, some books might lose ink that dissolves in water. This will make the words illegible because of this contact with water. Try to keep them in an environment that is not too humid.
2. Position Shelves Near An Interior Wall
This is necessary with enough space to accommodate some air circulation. Placing a shelf next to an exterior wall may cause the temperature of your bookshelf and its contents fluctuate too much, resulting in mold growth or other damage that can’t be reversed as easily.
3. Beware of Ants and Termites
These tiny insects cause a lot of damage to books. They feed on the paper material of the book destroying the contents in the books. They can eat half of the book or the entire book.
For example, you are reading a book, and you notice that some of the pages are missing. How will you feel about losing your beloved book to ants? Placing the books on the floor or dirty wooden surfaces can also cause ants infestation.
4. Standing Shelf Space is Best
Your books should always be standing up like they are on a shelf or lying down flat. There is no other position that is better for a book. Anything else will put too much pressure on the binding and the pages and potentially cause everything to warp over time. Regardless of how you store them, be sure that you move them from time to time to give them a different position.
5. Keep Away from Fire
Understandably, fire is very hazardous to books. It would be best if you put your books at a place where there are no traces of fire as this might burn all the books and the entire building! Accidents happen when sparks of fire fall onto a nearby book shelf. Even a cigarette that is not put off properly can cause fire damage.
6. Always Keep Your Books Out Of Sunlight
Over time the sun will bleach out the book and cause the pages to discolor. Bright lights can do the same thing so put the books in a room with fewer lighting.
7. Beware of Rodents
You should ensure there are no house rats. These also feed on the books and also defecate on the books. By eating the pages of the books, they destroy the contents of the book.
By defecating on the pages of the books, they become dirty and unpleasant to use. A good example is when you store your books near the farmhouse where rats are in plenty, the books will be destroyed by the rodents.
8. Don’t Remove the Book Jackets
They are meant to help protect the book covers and inner pages. They also keep dust away from the inner pages and prevent the book corners from bending over or fraying. Best of all they are beautiful to look at with their bold colors and images.
9. Regularly Dust Your Books
Keep the books and their spines well dusted. This will help to prevent the acidic elements in dust from damaging the inner paper pages.
Final Takeaway
In conclusion, when you run out of bookshelf space, you should not worry as there is a lot of space available in your house or office. Think outside the box and look at every available space as a possible storage spaces – from the closet, the bedroom, the hallway, doors, to the unused fireplace. Your beloved books can also be beautifully arranged and be decorative as well.
We encourage you to take your pick of the best book storage idea from the list above. Make sure to take into account what you’re storing and how much space is available.
To keep the books safe, treat their storage as a priority. The safety of the book will increase its life span and prevent unnecessary accidents that can happen with poor storage.
In this digital age, consider computerizing your books or downloading kindle versions so as keep them in your possession for as long as possible.
The perfect book storage idea is one that can continue to grow your mini library without an issue. The best way would be to set up like decorative shelving or even stacking books in clever creative spaces.
