10 Ways to Organize Your Books That Don’t Involve Color
Get fresh ideas for displaying your books so you can enjoy them more and find the one you want
Organizing books by color can be a fun way to sort a shelf or two (especially for visual learners like yours truly), and there’s no doubt that color-coded shelves make for a beautiful photograph. Designers may also sometimes turn the spines around entirely just for a photo shoot, to focus the eye on the room design rather than book titles, then put them the right way around afterward. But when faced with the day-to-day challenge of organizing a home library, book lovers want a method that will inspire them to read more — and help locate the book they’re looking for. Peruse these 10 ideas for organizing frameworks, then pick and choose the right combination for your shelves. Happy reading!
2. Read or Unread
It’s a truth universally acknowledged that a book lover must be in want of more books, whether or not there’s time to read them. If your shelves carry a mix of books you’ve read and loved and those you haven’t gotten to yet, consider creating a to-be-read shelf. Positioned within arm’s reach of your favorite reading spot, your personal unreads shelf can hold the books you’re thinking of reading next so they don’t get lost in the shuffle.
Novel Ways With Bedroom Books
It’s a truth universally acknowledged that a book lover must be in want of more books, whether or not there’s time to read them. If your shelves carry a mix of books you’ve read and loved and those you haven’t gotten to yet, consider creating a to-be-read shelf. Positioned within arm’s reach of your favorite reading spot, your personal unreads shelf can hold the books you’re thinking of reading next so they don’t get lost in the shuffle.
Novel Ways With Bedroom Books
3. By Genre or Niche
If you read across many genres (contemporary fiction, fantasy, memoir, science), it can be useful to shelve books according to your most-used categories. Just be sure to keep a bit of open shelf space around each section if at all possible, to leave room for future purchases. And remember, it’s your library so you get to make the rules. Want a section dedicated to niche genres like time travel romance, presidential biographies, cozy mysteries or postapocalyptic fiction? Go for it.
These Rooms Put the Allure of Books Front and Center
If you read across many genres (contemporary fiction, fantasy, memoir, science), it can be useful to shelve books according to your most-used categories. Just be sure to keep a bit of open shelf space around each section if at all possible, to leave room for future purchases. And remember, it’s your library so you get to make the rules. Want a section dedicated to niche genres like time travel romance, presidential biographies, cozy mysteries or postapocalyptic fiction? Go for it.
These Rooms Put the Allure of Books Front and Center
4. By Series or Edition
There are some gorgeous sets and editions out there, from the clothbound classics shown here to reissues of old favorites with new cover art. If you notice you’re accumulating books in a series (such as Harry Potter) or a collection that has a similar look or binding (Penguin Classics), consider shelving them together for quick access and visual satisfaction. This isn’t a stand-alone organizing principle, as you’re sure to have books that do not belong to a series or special edition, but it can be fun when used in conjunction with a few of the other organizing ideas explored here.
Shop for bookends
There are some gorgeous sets and editions out there, from the clothbound classics shown here to reissues of old favorites with new cover art. If you notice you’re accumulating books in a series (such as Harry Potter) or a collection that has a similar look or binding (Penguin Classics), consider shelving them together for quick access and visual satisfaction. This isn’t a stand-alone organizing principle, as you’re sure to have books that do not belong to a series or special edition, but it can be fun when used in conjunction with a few of the other organizing ideas explored here.
Shop for bookends
5. A to Z (or Z to A)
Putting your books in alphabetical order by author (for fiction) or by subject (for nonfiction) is a major project. If you have the foresight to begin this process when just starting out building your home library, the alphabetical system can easily grow with you. Want to shake things up? In the hallway bookshelves shown here, book lovers Marie-Cécile Puissochet and Romain Graveleau put their collection in reverse alphabetical order. When browsing from Z to A, the pair find they run across more unexpected books, which has been a gift for their reading lives.
World of Design: 11 Book Lovers and Where They Like to Read
Putting your books in alphabetical order by author (for fiction) or by subject (for nonfiction) is a major project. If you have the foresight to begin this process when just starting out building your home library, the alphabetical system can easily grow with you. Want to shake things up? In the hallway bookshelves shown here, book lovers Marie-Cécile Puissochet and Romain Graveleau put their collection in reverse alphabetical order. When browsing from Z to A, the pair find they run across more unexpected books, which has been a gift for their reading lives.
World of Design: 11 Book Lovers and Where They Like to Read
6. By Size
You’re bound to do a bit of this simply because the size of your shelves will determine which books will fit where, but you can make organizing by size a more intentional decision as well. Lay flat all of your big art and decorating books in one area, collect small-format books between bookends and fill another bookcase with standard-size volumes.
You’re bound to do a bit of this simply because the size of your shelves will determine which books will fit where, but you can make organizing by size a more intentional decision as well. Lay flat all of your big art and decorating books in one area, collect small-format books between bookends and fill another bookcase with standard-size volumes.
7. By Topic
A bit different from shelving by genre, organizing your books by topic can be useful when you have a particular subject that fascinates you. If you have a passion for art, for instance, you might want to shelve your art technique books, artist monographs and art-inspired novels all together where they can inspire you.
A bit different from shelving by genre, organizing your books by topic can be useful when you have a particular subject that fascinates you. If you have a passion for art, for instance, you might want to shelve your art technique books, artist monographs and art-inspired novels all together where they can inspire you.
8. Hardcover or Paperback
Sorting your books by binding is one way to give your shelves a cleaner look without going rainbow. Once your bookcases are filled with hardcovers or paperbacks, respectively, you can still impose further organization by also sorting by genre, topic or alphabet.
24 Amazing Walls of Books
Sorting your books by binding is one way to give your shelves a cleaner look without going rainbow. Once your bookcases are filled with hardcovers or paperbacks, respectively, you can still impose further organization by also sorting by genre, topic or alphabet.
24 Amazing Walls of Books
9. Outward-Facing
There’s a reason bookstores and libraries display some books facing outward or propped up on shelves: You’re more likely to pick up a book when you can see the full cover. And while there’s no way to display all of your books face-out, it can be an inspiring way to showcase favorites and encourage browsing.
Dinner and a Good Book: 12 Double-Duty Dining Rooms
There’s a reason bookstores and libraries display some books facing outward or propped up on shelves: You’re more likely to pick up a book when you can see the full cover. And while there’s no way to display all of your books face-out, it can be an inspiring way to showcase favorites and encourage browsing.
Dinner and a Good Book: 12 Double-Duty Dining Rooms
10. By Mood or Setting
If you pick up your next read based on how you’re hoping it will make you feel, it may be helpful to use mood as a compass when it comes to sorting those shelves. How you interpret this is completely up to you — perhaps you’d enjoy having separate shelves devoted to spooky reads, nostalgic picks, great love stories and books that make you cry. Or if you love a rich setting, consider shelving books by location: Be an armchair traveler with not only travel guides and memoirs, but novels set in the same place.
Share: How do you organize your books? Share a photo of your shelves in the Comments.
More on Houzz
Find an interior design pro near you
Shop for bookcases
If you pick up your next read based on how you’re hoping it will make you feel, it may be helpful to use mood as a compass when it comes to sorting those shelves. How you interpret this is completely up to you — perhaps you’d enjoy having separate shelves devoted to spooky reads, nostalgic picks, great love stories and books that make you cry. Or if you love a rich setting, consider shelving books by location: Be an armchair traveler with not only travel guides and memoirs, but novels set in the same place.
Share: How do you organize your books? Share a photo of your shelves in the Comments.
More on Houzz
Find an interior design pro near you
Shop for bookcases
When you’re looking for something to read, one of the first questions you might ask yourself is whether you’re in the mood for a weighty classic or a more recent work. Dividing the shelves in your home into these two broad categories can be useful, either on its own or in conjunction with one or more of the organizing frameworks covered next.
12 Spaces That Prove There’s Always Room for Books