How to Display Your Books As a More Sophisticated Adult
Bookshelves have become the official unofficial backdrop for Zoom presentations. I can’t count the number of meetings I’ve seen a presenter sitting in front of a wall with books, all strategically located and it makes sense: beautiful bookcases look professional. Even elegant. They exhibit a sense of sophistication that others will notice.
Take Twitter’s Bookcase Credibility , for example, as a great place to explore (and rate) bookcase layouts. This is art, not science. So, it’s time to put things in order. Here are some ingenious ways to organize your books to make a strong impression.
Consider placing books by color
Carrie of home organization Lemonade loves to take the sleeves off books to reveal the natural look and color of the books. With the sleeves removed, you can sort each book by color. All your blue books should be together, red books, yellow books, and so on. Carrie explains that she likes to group books by color, but not necessarily in rainbow order, stacking multiple books on their side as a focus and a way to make the room bright.
Organizers like Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin of The Home Edit love to stick to the rainbow order they call the ROYGBIV method. “Our brains naturally recognize this pattern, knowing where to put things,” explains the duo. You can arrange books by size to facilitate flow.
Display books in wall boxes
A smarter way to display your books is to use decorative wall boxes. To get started, take boxes of different sizes and arrange them on the walls as you like. Create a large box with smaller boxes or stairs up the walls – whichever combination inspires you the most. Put a few books in each box – not so many that they look full, and not so few where it seems like something is missing. For a display like this, choose the headings you want people to notice as the display margins are a chance to showcase your taste.
Use a hanging book stand to make yourself known
One unique way of displaying books is with a hanging book rack . You’ll be talking about Zoom with this custom display, where a wooden handrail with fancy clothespins hangs on the wall, and the laces are wrapped inside your book covers so they dangle. (Don’t worry, this hanging method won’t damage your books.) You can find this custom hanging system on Etsy , but it’s worth it to be so unique, at least $ 160 based on what I’ve found.
Make coffee tables and bedside tables out of larger books
Overflowing books can clutter your bookshelves, so while you’re cleaning in your library or home office, grab rejected books and make a custom nightstand or coffee table. Spruce suggests using hardback books only to ensure you have a solid structure. After folding the books with the spine facing out, simply place a wooden or glass board on top. This style also offers a good opportunity to incorporate color coding, as you can use brighter books to create a brighter focal point, or darker books to match darker forests.