Maybe it’s the English student in me, but I think that you can tell a lot about a person by looking at their bookshelf. For me, my room is an archive for everything my sister and I have ever loved; from our childhood favourite novels, to the figurines we place next to them to match the vibe of the text, our shelves contain everything we would drop if you beat us in a video game. So, whether you are thinking of redoing your room for your new era – or just want a good background for your video calls – here are some suggestions so that your bookshelf is curated according to your personality.
1. Mini Lights
All of the books and trinkets you have collected should be visible and appreciated by any onlooker. However, I find that if a shelf has enclosed cubby holes, shadows can cast onto your collectibles and make it harder to see nearer the top of that section. The best way to make sure every inch is illuminated, is to install some lights onto the top planks of each cubby hole. One type that I have considered getting for my bookshelf are LED puck lights. These can either be remote controlled, or turned on and off by tapping the centre. This way is more inconspicuous than normal plug-in lamps as it hides the location of where the light is emitting from.
If you do want your lights on display, you could try draping fairy lights along your shelves. This works best when you also install small hooks to the edges or sides of the shelf so that the lights are positioned exactly where you want them. Fairy lights usually create a softer, warmer glow than the puck lights, so it is best to consider what kind of ambiance you want to create. If you are thinking of using your book sleeves as part of a reading nook, it might be worth avoiding harsher lighting for when you sit down and read.
2. Ordering Your Books
Now, this decision all depends on how you are as a reader and decorator. One way, would be to just put in your books randomly and let the layout be decided on chance. However, if you are sitting there, looking at your empty shelf with an overwhelming stack full of books at your feet, there may be a few ideas to consider first.
One way, although this was a debate in online book communities, is to order your books according to the colours of the rainbow: starting from red and transitioning to orange, yellow, and so on…
Where do you stand on colour coding your books? Book creators on social media have received backlash for designing their book shelf like this. Some people have issues with the practicality of this layout, believing that it would be difficult to find the books in a series if they were separated by colour. Nevertheless, if you do not find this to be a problem for you, there’s no reason why you should not set up your bookshelf the way you want it.
Other ways you may like to order your books:
- Alphabetically (author or title name)
- By genre
- By TBR (to be read) schedule
- How you would rate them (from one to five stars)
- Putting the book, cover first into the shelf once you have read it (with the sprayed edges/special editions that are being produced nowadays, this could be really pretty!)
3. Charms
You may have seen people walking around with charms on their phone cases, or maybe with it hanging off their bag. Like those bookmarks that hook into the pages, with jewels and beads at the end of it, you could have charms adorning your books. I have used these types of bookmarks in the past and found that they can sometimes produce bends, damaging the covers and contents of my books. If you are like me and find that you are devastated when your favourite book gets ruined, but also love the idea of book charms, this hack is for you.
In terms of the beads, you can pick whatever types, colours and sizes you want. Once it is made, you can slot it in between the gaps of your books, so that it is held in place with the two sides. If you have ever done some bracelet making, it is like that but you do not tie the two ends together after it is completed. Top tip – it is better to use thread for this. It is possible to use elastic string but, when fixing it between two books, the heaviness of the beads makes the elastic stretch so that everything on it droops down and creates a gap. This exposes the elastic and I warn you, it is not the best aesthetically.
4. Figurines
With blind boxes being trending right now, it might be worth taking time to consider how you want to display them. These can be quite expensive sometimes, so it is probably not too accessible for everyone; to get the ones you want, you may need to buy a few boxes before your dream figure is yours. This concept of randomisation in trinkets is detrimental to my bank account as a student. In light of this, it is better to get these second hand as people either sell duplicates, or the ones they do not want on their own shelves. This way, you know exactly what you are getting.
My sister is obsessed with a specific blind box series- Skullpandas. They are highly-stylised characters with intricate details, designed in accordance to series based on different interesting themes: the latest one being visionary silverware with a cyberpunk twist (trust me, check it out!) She has a clear, acrylic stand that has tiered levels, displaying the figures against the books that compliment its colours
As well as this, you could correspond any of your figures with a book that they could potentially exist in; the futuristic figures can be with the ‘techno-dystopian’ texts and the ethereal ones can be near the ‘whimsi-horror’ texts.
More Ideas To Consider:
- Putting up art prints/stickers that relate to the world and characters of the books
- If you have any albums, you could put them alongside your books – perhaps consider what songs would be in the soundtrack of your dream adaptation
- Dried flowers – you can press them in the pages of your book
- Plant pots with succulents scattered on the shelves
- Book nooks – you can get kits that you can assemble, creating a tiny world that exists within the confines of your bookshelves