Where to put those Books

Hubby and I have been married for almost twenty-four years and have bought books continuously since then.  Years ago we agreed that while we might set budgets for other purchases, books would never be held to a limit.  Well, as you can imagine, over two dozen years, that can cause some accumulations.  Odd thing is that we didn't buy any shelves to house them.  We had two old shelves in the basement to contain his books, all double stacked, and that was it.

If you were to visit my house you would have found stacks of books lining the baseboards, piles on the end table and a coffee table that was stacked solid about six books deep.

We had purchases one small shelf for son several years ago.  That's it.  In January I decided that February would be shelf buying month. That led to many shopping trips.  We knew that we needed something that could bear the weight of fully stacked shelves.  None of this decorator stuff where you put a few books on and then leave the rest of the space for pretty vases and goo gaas.  We went to the usual mass furniture stores, but they left us cold.  We didn't want laminate product, having experienced their sags before.

I found this nice one for daughter a Pier 1 Imports.  Its the Anywhere Folding Shelf. 

 It's some sort of painted fibre board product.  We wanted her's to be lighter weight and easily portable, keeping in mind that she'll be thinking of University before we know it.

This shelf was filled instantly.  It's already double stacked and she has dozen more books still on the floor and on her desk.

Note that most of these books have not been read.

 This solid wood beauty is in our front living room.  We went local and found it in Elmira, Ontario.  We were all set to relent and buy a laminate one in desperation, then spied this hiding behind an armchair.  Changed our mind instantly.  The tag on the back of the shelf showed that it had been a custom order.  I guess someone changed their mind. 

This took care of the coffee table and few others.

Note, only a few of these books have been read.

We were still in difficulty.  Our bedroom was lined with books on the floor and the dog kept tipping the ordered stacks over.  This was serious.  We found what we liked at the St. Jacobs Furnishing Company.  We custom ordered so that we could push the two shelves side by side.  They are made from a wormy maple.  Both of us were surprised that they were ready in about three weeks and at a very affordable price.

This took care of the bedroom and the rest of the books in the kitchen, almost.

So, on this shelf, mine are the five on the left and the bottom two on the right.   Hardly any of these books have been read.  The top left shelf are books that I have either won or have accepted for reviews.

We are still looking for a narrow shelf for the dining room that will house some cookbooks and then another for the tv room.  Not sure whether that one will be a complete entertainment unit type, or just for books. 

whew, that was a lot of work.  Now to find that missing box of books in the basement that's been hiding for fifteen years.

Thanks to Marie at Daisy's Book Journal for insisting that I share my new shelves with you.