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February 21, 2005
Put the Book Back on the Shelf.
After I posted about kitchen and clothing storage, one reader asked me something like "Oh, but what about the books? The books are everywhere!" The written word is taking over so many of our spaces, I know.
My favorite books sit atop our television in a tidy stack, like art:
I majored in English Lit, and I've been in the book business for something like eight years. So yeah, I'm a terrible bookhoarder. I pluck them out of trash piles, I buy them on the internet, from libraries, regular bookshops, and even from stoop sales. I take friends' castoffs. I have a ton of my old college textbooks, gathering dust where they sit on my shelves.
This is the smallest of three bookselves in my apartment:
I use every available square inch of this shelf, as you can see. For a while, right before my last big book purge, the top shelf was stacked two deep.
Like I noted with clothing storage, purging is essential. If you have a book just to have it, or if you're filling your shelves just so everyone will know how smart and well-read you are, well, there you have your priorities. Priorities you'll regret next time you move.
There is something so freeing about setting books free to circulate, and choosing favorites for your all-time, desert-island collection helps you to better define your tastes and beliefs and personality.
I don't mean to sound like a broken record here, some austere minimalist shouting "Throw it out!" God knows I don't follow this advice all that often. I have loads of clutter, and stacks of books I don't really like, books I've never read, books I may never get around to reading. But man, it feels amazing to send books on their way, imagining the hundreds of other hands they'll fill. At least once a year, get rid of a few. You'll feel lighter, more free, and you'll thank yourself the next time you must pack them into boxes and carry them down the stairs.
In the meantime, I love these shelves right here.
(Thanks for bearing with me during this past week's brief hiatus.)
Posted by Lara at February 21, 2005 10:08 PM
Comments
I definitely have too many books and need to go through a bit of a book-purge.
A tip: If you have a lot of books and you want to get "set them free", check out BookCrossing at http://www.bookcrossing.com.
Among other things the site let's you do, you can track the progress of a book that's been let go.
Posted by: Christopher at February 22, 2005 08:57 AM
I've had the Skandia shelving for about six years, and I love it. No load is too heavy, and in the five different places I've lived, I've been able to configure it differently each time. It's super-easy to breakdown and move, too. I've added on more components over the years, and my older pieces have darkened up a bit for a bit of patina. It's great stuff.
The Container Store sells it exclusively and it goes on sale for 25% off everything every September.
http://containerstore.com/browse/index.jhtml?CATID=13392
Posted by: Anne at February 22, 2005 09:12 PM
Now that the hiatis is over where is the final picture of your hallway stripes!?!
I saw Moving Up over the weekend and saw a couple do rectangular blocking on the walls using tape and a little caulking/silicone to stop any paint bleeding. Another show (maybe Debbie Travis' Facelift) said that to stop paint bleeding under the tape you should first do a very light coat of paint where the tape meets the surface.
I'd love to hear another opinion on what works to prevent paint bleeding past the tape line!
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