Week #44 Organized Home Challenge
How To Organize Books
This week, in the Organize Books Challenge, we'll declutter and organize this type of reading material in our homes, using the step by step instructions below.
We've already tackled some other types of reading material in our homes in previous challenges, such as cookbooks, and magazines and newspapers.
But books pose a special challenge for many people, myself included I will confess.
I am a bibliophile if there ever was one, and to top it off I married a man who loves books perhaps even more than I do. That means we have lots of books in our house.
Whether you've got a few or a lot of books though, you've got to keep them organized so you're able to find what you're looking for to read it when you want to, or these items aren't serving a useful purpose in your home, just taking up much needed space.
Are you new here? The Organize Books Challenge is part of the 52 Weeks To An Organized Home Challenge. (Click the link to learn how to join us for free for future and past challenges if you aren't already a regular reader).
Step 1: Declutter And Donate Or Sell Unwanted Books
The first step in the Organize Books Challenge is to gather all your books from around your home, and really assess what you have and whether you actually want, or need all of them anymore.
Since my husband and I love books so much, we had a bad habit for a long time of collecting them. We really figured out we had a problem when we moved, and had to lug all those books around.
Therefore, since then we've decluttered a lot of them, on several occasions. This can be tough to do, especially when you're an avid book collector like we were. However, I can honestly say I haven't missed the books we let go of, and our home is less cluttered because of it.
You can only have as many books in your home as you have room for on bookshelves or bookcases, typically, so you need to either make room for more of this furniture or get rid of some of the collection until it fits in the space you have for it.
You should not have high stacks of books in your home, and if you do, you know you've got clutter. Tall stacks readily topple over, making a mess and potentially can harm someone, especially small children.
Further, I feel pretty strongly that books should be read and enjoyed, and not just used for decoration or display in your home. If you find you're keeping a book because it "looks nice" but you never plan on reading it -- let it go.
I've written an entire article on how to declutter books, including 5 questions to ask yourself as you try to get rid of your book clutter.
In addition, here are tips for declutter bookcases and bookshelves in your home.
I personally like to donate my used books to the library when decluttering, since I think it's a great community service to give to them for their library book sales.
If you're struggling for where to donate, here's my list of the top 13 places to donate used books.
If some of your books are pretty valuable, or you just need the cash, you may want to consider selling them instead. I've also created a list of the top 10 places to sell books for cash here.
Finally, I also use the library to cut down on clutter (and save money) in the first place by borrowing many books there, instead of buying them.
Step 2: Organize Books In Logical Manner
Once you've winnowed down your book collection to a more manageable size the next step in the Organize Books Challenge is to place them in a logical manner on shelves, and bookcases so that you can find the one you're looking for, when you want it.
So what is a logical manner? That is really up to you, since it is whatever way makes sense to you, since it's your collection.
Some people are very concerned with the way that the books look on the shelf (and I'll discuss this more in a moment), but to me the way they look is a secondary consideration. I think you need to be able to find them first, and organizing them by size or color, while it may look pretty, does not help you find the right book when you want and need it.
So here are some suggested "logical" ways to organize books. Feel free to pick and choose what methods and groupings work for you, or to do something completely different as long as it makes sense to you and anyone else in your home that needs to also be able to reference the books:
- Separate fiction and nonfiction into different sections
- Fiction can be organized alphabetically by author, or by genre
- Nonfiction books can be organized by subject
Ways To Make Shelves Look Pretty While Still Organizing Books On Them
Bookends for shelf organization
[Click to buy on Amazon]
Once you've got a logical order to your books, you can take some additional steps to make them pretty and look nice as they're displayed. Here are some suggestions:
- Keep the spines and titles facing out, with all titles able to be read in one direction.
- You can alternate rows of books that are standing upright, with some that are lying down horizontally in a small stack, which can visually break up a long line of books for a nice display.
- Further, you can use bookends both to break up subjects or categories, but also to allow you to place some other decorative visuals on the shelves, such as a photo or knick knack to again add visual appeal to the shelves.
Where To Store Your Books: Home Library Versus Throughout House
Some people are blessed with a home large enough to have a room devoted to reading and storing their books -- a home library, but not everyone is.
Whether you've got such a room or not though, it can be nice to place categories of books in the area where you'll need them.
For example, as discussed in a previous Challenge cookbooks that are used often make sense in the kitchen, but cookbook collections, which are seldomly used shouldn't waste space in there, but instead should go on a shelf elsewhere.
As part of the Organize Books Challenge look around your home and note where people enjoy reading. These are prime areas to place a bookcase if there is room.
Additional Organizing Tips For Children's Books
Sling Bookshelves For Kids
[Click here to purchase on Amazon]
I think it is very important to have books available for your kids to read, whenever they get the urge. That's why I think anyone who has children should have a bookshelf or designated area in their home just for their kids' books.
(Of course, you also need to periodically declutter kids books so you are only organizing and storing the ones you should keep, so check out the linked article for tips on getting rid of children's book clutter.)
However, you can't store and organize kids' books in exactly the same way as you would books for adults.
First, consider that small children need to have a shelf for their books which is low to the ground, so they can reach them themselves.
Further, young children can't stack books on the shelves upright very well at all, and also tend to pull large numbers of them off shelves. That's why I love specially designed bookshelves for kids, such as the sling bookshelf shown above. The pockets make it easy for a child to put away and pull out one book at a time, and to reach them easily.
In addition, if you've got a climber (or small children in general) seriously consider bolting or strapping all of your bookcases to the wall (referral link), so they are less likely to tip over and harm a child.
Finally, if your child like to carry some of their books around, or loans them to friends, I suggest getting some custom bookplates or book labels for kids so there is more of a chance of getting your books returned.
Step 3: Consider These Book Organizers & Storage Solutions
When deciding how to organize books in your home, consider these types of book organizers and storage solutions, depending on the type of book you're organizing.
Storage Solutions For Physical Books
The main way to store and display books is, of course, on bookshelves and/or bookcases. There is quite a variety of sizes and shapes of this type of furniture on the market, including ones made just for kids.
Be careful if you purchase particle board shelves, with the amount of weight you place on each shelf since they will bow and break if overloaded (ask me how I know!)
If you do have particle board it may be worth investing in extra shelves and stacking one shelf on top of the other for added strength (again, ask me how I know!)
Consider These Digital Solutions For Reading Books
A great way to declutter your collection, or keep physical books from entering it in the future is with an e-reader, such as the Kindle (referral link) or Nook.
If you'd asked me even a few years ago if e-readers would take off the way they have I would have told you no.
However, one of my daughters got a Kindle for Christmas years ago and now our whole family is hooked. It's wonderful, and stores so many books in one small space.
Especially now that libraries have created a lending system for these e-pub books I get them all the time this way, and in my opinion you just can't beat it!
In addition, did you know that even if you don't have a Kindle you can read Kindle books directly from your computer or mobile devices? Here's a quick article I wrote after lots of questions about how to read Kindle books without a Kindle.
Further, the Kindle Unlimited subscription service is perfect for anyone who enjoys reading a lot, wants to save money while maintaining their reading habit, and wants less physical book clutter, as well as less digital clutter.
Oh, and did I mention that selected audiobooks and magazines are also included within Kindle Unlimited as well?
Check out my Kindle Unlimited review here.
Step 4: Create System To Keep Track Of Library Books
Speaking of libraries, the last step in the Organize Books Challenge is to create a system in your home for keeping track of library books.
I've hinted at this before, such as in the Mudroom & Entryway Organization Challenge, but in this Challenge if you haven't already made a place for your library books do it now.
The reason you need a space in your home to keep track of your library books is because they otherwise get lost or misplaced, leading to paying fines and/or buying these lost books.
In my family we go to the library weekly, at least, and are still experimenting with the best system for keeping track of these books since my kids like to wander around the house with their books, reading them in various locations.
The ideal system for you will vary depending on your circumstances. For sure though, you should have a place to hold and collect library books so they don't get mixed in with your own books, and are accessible when its time to run errands and return them to the library or a drop off box.
If everyone is relatively responsible with their library books in your home this may be as simple as having a basket that you place them in as you're finished with them.
On the other hand, if you check out large numbers of books, CDs and/or DVDs, or they seem to scatter all over the house, never to be returned, you may want a more elaborate system, such as a check out system within your home to keep track of the books, letting only one out at a time to a family member.
Listen To Taylor's Video Tips For This Week's Organized Home Challenge & Declutter 365 Missions
Do you want more in-depth tips and instructions for how to do this week's missions and challenge all about decluttering and organizing your books? If so, I've got recorded video tips from me, Taylor, from the video archives in the Declutter 365 Premium group, all about this week's challenge and missions.
These video tips are available on demand in the archives, once you're a member of the group.
In Week #44's video I discussed the following topics, among others:
- How to declutter books, even if you're a bibliophile
- Ideas for what to do with books you're getting rid of, including places to donate and sell
- How to organize books in your home
- Declutter 365 missions for the coming week
I suggest watching the video archive for the week, perhaps while you're doing some decluttering or cleaning around your home, before starting the week's missions and Challenge, and then you'll be able to breeze through this week's worth of decluttering missions, as well as organize what's necessary for the 52 Week Organized Home Challenge, based on the advice and instructions within those videos.
It really is like having me, Taylor, available, 24-7, as your decluttering and organizing coach, for every area of your home!
Plus, once you're a member of Declutter 365 Premium you get access to not only this video, but all the videos for the 52 weeks of the year, for 6 years (that's over 270 videos available in the archives!)
Get This Paper & Filing Decluttering Checklist + 32 Other Decluttering Checklists For Your Home
Right now you're decluttering your papers and files, and there's a lot of types and varieties of these around your home.
I've done the hard work of breaking down these tasks into smaller more manageable steps for you, so you don't get overwhelmed or worry you're forgetting a task, and you can go at the pace you want, whether that's fast or slow.
In addition, you can tackle these decluttering tasks in whatever order you want when you use these checklists!
Tell Me How The Organize Books Challenge Is Going For You
I would love to know how this week's Organize Books Challenge is going. You can tell me your progress or give me more ideas for how you've organized these items in the comments below.
I also would love to see before and after pictures of your organized books, once you've completed the challenge. Submit your pictures (up to four per submission) and blog posts and get featured in the Creative Storage Solutions Hall of Fame. You've worked hard to get organized, so now here's your chance to show off!
Sneak Peek For Next Week's Challenge
We're working on our homes slowly, one area at a time, so don't get too distracted from the Organize Books Challenge this week.
However, I know some of you love to know what's coming next, so I'll tell you. Next week we'll tackle a biggie when we deal with creating an emergency preparedness kit for our homes.
Make Sure You Make The Most Of These 52 Organizing Challenges
Get your copy of the printable one page 52 Week Organized Home Challenge schedule for the year here, so you can see all the challenges we're working on.
Further, if you'd like to join a community of others who are all commmitted to these organizing challenges and corresponding decluttering missions, and want more interaction with me, Taylor, video archives of Taylor providing more tips for each of these challenges and missions, as well as live monthly group coaching sessions focusing on the skills and habits necessary to maintain your home from now on, I'd urge you to join the private and exclusive Declutter 365 Premium Facebook group (you can learn more about it at the link).
In addition, have you gotten your Declutter 365 Products yet, to make sure you can get even more assistance with decluttering and organizing your home this year? There are both free products (like the Declutter 365 calendar, a $20 value), as well as add-ons, such as daily text messages, planner stickers, and a Premium Facebook group, as well as a pack of printabe decluttering checklists.
Top photo courtesy of Dan Taylor-Watt
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