Books on the Move: 8 Creative Ways to Shelve Your Library
These clever ideas will make your space more functional and versatile, and maybe even your home a best-seller
Shelves on wheels, layered libraries and secret doors, oh my! If you’re a book lover looking for unique and flexible ways to store your precious tomes, you’ve come to the right place. Eight creative shelving ideas are straight ahead.
2. Pivoting shelves. Now you see them, now you don’t! Made only from recycled and salvaged materials, these pivoting bookshelves can rotate to face either the living room or a bedroom with a quick spin. Or leave them open to increase light and flow.
Watch an Innovative Bookcase Convert Before Your Eyes
Watch an Innovative Bookcase Convert Before Your Eyes
3. Rolling console. Make it easy to change your furniture arrangement on a whim by choosing furniture (like the console bookshelf shown here) on casters. Keep it close to the couch for setting books and drinks, or push it against the wall to make more space.
4. Double-duty cookbook station. This clever little bookcase was custom made to tuck beneath the end of a kitchen island. Just roll it away to make room for a guest to pull up a stool while you cook, or wheel it into the dining room to serve as a buffet at a big party or holiday dinner.
Kitchen of the Week: Working the Angles for Sophistication in Michigan
Kitchen of the Week: Working the Angles for Sophistication in Michigan
5. Book wagon. Put an old wagon to work by filling it with a rotating selection of favorite books (picture books or otherwise) and carting it wherever it’s needed. Kids especially will love being able to bring their haul from room to room, but grown-up book lovers are sure to get a kick out of it too.
6. Bedtime reading buddy. With room for books below and a comfy cushion on top, this little bench makes an ideal bedside companion. Especially handy for parents to perch on while reading aloud at bedtime — without needing to crouch beneath an upper bunk.
7. Mini mobile shelf. This small-space wonder can be shifted from place to place with ease, so it’s never underfoot. A low bookshelf like the one shown here is also a smart find for placing beneath low windows, where a taller bookcase would block the light.
8. Layered library. Once, in a used bookstore, I happened to be browsing when the owner went to retrieve something from “the back.” But instead of disappearing into a back room, she grasped the nearest bookcase and slid it aside to reveal … more books! Ever since that moment I have wanted my very own secret stash of books-behind-books, very much like the one shown here. Tracks along the floor and ceiling allow the bookcases to slide easily back and forth without tipping.
Tell us in the Comments: What would your dream home library look like?
More
How to Create a Secret Doorway Behind a Bookcase
Paint Your Bookcases to Transform Your Room
Browse bookcases
Tell us in the Comments: What would your dream home library look like?
More
How to Create a Secret Doorway Behind a Bookcase
Paint Your Bookcases to Transform Your Room
Browse bookcases
Basement of the Week: Stone Arches, a Fun Ceiling and a Secret Door