Michael Rios on Top Design/Arranging Bookshelves
While Top Design has its ups and downs (last night it was basically an hour-long commercial for some GMC SUV), I was excited to see Michael Rios of notNeutral as the guest judge. While Matt worked his fanny off getting all of the family’s crapola into Container Store bins and didn’t really have the time to worry about composing the bins artfully, Rios had a good point. In a nutshell, he said that putting things away is the first step, but that the composition of where you put them away is where the art and design comes in.
I’ve been seeing the question of how to arrange books on different blogs lately. I think the English majors with a bunch of literature feel compelled to arrange in alphabetical order, while people with design backgrounds pay more attention to color:
Scrappy Girl from Domino Blogs feels compelled to do the ABCs thing:
OK, now I say this as a person who very much enjoys Scrappy’s blog - Girl, recycle those Cliff Notes - are you having nightmares that you have some paper to write? If so, you can cheat on the internet and not have those things out in the open shaming you to all visitors. You keep saying you have trouble letting go of things, and the fact that you are clinging to Cliff really proves that! I’m sensing the former English major in Scrappy - it takes one to know one - I get it! I finally decided that I was never going to re-read my Faulkners (or The Corrections for that matter) and donated all but my favorites to friends and charities. Wha-lah - more room for all my other stuff, and some room to arrange artfully.
OK, the opposite approach was taken in these examples:
from chotda on flickr
I stupidly forgot to write down where I found this picture, but I think it’s from the style files as it looks like her header.*
In the first photo, I have to wonder who has that many hot pink books - looking at my huge collection of books I see I have two. In both examples, especially the second photo, it seems the books were chosen simply for their color but not for their content. Each one is just for decoration - but as a composed group they make up those striking horizontal stripes.
There is no right answer, so I’ll be posting some pictures of my favorite bookshelf arrangements over the next few weeks. If I try to do them all in one post, I’ll never let myself finish or stop searching - I think it will be more fun to show you a few at a time. I do think that the answer for most of us lies somewhere in between the alphabetical and the OCD color composition, like this example from domino galleries:
*Yes, Danielle of the style files assured me that I did have it correct - thanks Danielle!
March 9th, 2007 at 9:48 am
You don’t have it wrong Becky. The photo was featured on my blog the style files (and is also my header). I took the photo in a great luchroom/bar in Copenhagen called The Laundromat. Perhaps organising books by spine color is not very pratical, it sure is a feast to the eye!.. Have a great weekend!
March 9th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
Thanks Danielle! I’m glad to know for sure! I couldn’t get the style files all loaded up to search yesterday due to a slow internet connection.
Becky
March 9th, 2007 at 3:02 pm
I love arranging bookshelves. I like to color idea for people who don’t read. I like to mix books with art and other things like photos, boxes, and other chotskis. Also, I stack some books and put books on their spines on either side. The only problem with my method is that it’s hard to find books. I try to group them by general topic to cut down on the confusion.
March 12th, 2007 at 1:45 pm
Hi Jennifer! I thought you were frecklewonder until I saw your other comment
PLEASE send me some pics of your shelves, I’d like to keep featuring different ones over the next few weeks. Or you can upload them to the FRESH NEW SPACES group on flickr.
Thanks for stopping by!
Becky
March 13th, 2007 at 11:40 am
This one is similar to the one posted above:
http://thisisloveforever.com/blog/archives/188
March 13th, 2007 at 11:56 am
Olivia, what a great link - I’m definitely going to include this love forever/magpie and cake link in the future.
Thanks so much!
Becky
March 16th, 2007 at 12:45 pm
I’m so glad someone did a bookshelf round up post because it’s true that it’s been everywhere. For the record, I have those Cliff’s notes because I know I’ll NEVER read Ulysses without them, and I refuse to give up on the idea of reading Ulysses. Want to be my tutor, Becky?
March 16th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
Oh my God, Ulysses is impossible! The Dubliners is much more straightforward
I’m a former English major who held onto Cliff for many years, waking up in the middle of the night panicked that I had a paper on comparing the theme of the woods in Faulkner and Hawthorne due the next day!
Becky