The best way to style your books
For a cozy, curated look, it's so simple!
The happy, interested, interesting family has lots of books and is always acquiring more.
The housewife can be a bit overwhelmed by them.
Do you want to know the nicest way to style your bookshelves in your home for maximum coziness and charm? (Too long; didn’t read: go to Point 4)
Here you go:
First, try to get good bookcases, however you can. This is an ongoing process. There is no endpoint.
Second, figure out how you want your books to be organized, broadly. Kids’ books can be sorted by how tall the kids are, with the littles’ books down low.
Third, whenever you clean the room (whether a blitz or a reasonable cleaning), dust the tops of the books and whatever parts of the shelves you can reach easily. A deep clean will mean taking things out and wiping down thoroughly, but don’t worry about that right now.
Fourth, and this is really the key:
Pull the books forward on the shelf so the bindings are all in a line.
Teach the children to do this too, because their natural urge and even delight is to push the books against the back of the bookcase. Certainly, when you tell them to tidy up, they consider the task accomplished if they shove them all in somehow.
Once in a while, pull them all out again so the bindings are about an inch in on the shelf, or whatever the distance of your deepest book is, and everything lines up. Here is a post with pictures of my bookshelves. Task your 8-year-old with this job occasionally. Admonish them all on a regular basis.
If you do that one thing — #4 — you will find your books curate themselves. No fake flowers, busts, large decorative rope balls or any other objects needed.
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The School for Housewives brings you short, practical, and thoughtful messages to inspire you to make your home. If you’re new here, go to the homepage for the previous Lessons; the categories are arranged in the menu bar at the top.
For the longer version:
My book on how to live with the Liturgical Year: The Little Oratory
As with everything here at the SFH, the best thing is for you to take my ideas, coming from my experience of 45 years of marriage and raising seven children, and apply them to your situation with discernment, prudence, and confidence — and a sense of humor!
Most of the books in my house seem to find themselves piled and plunked around everywhere, especially by the 2 and 4 year olds. I need to do some admonishing STAT.