April 20, 2020, 5:47 am | Read time: 4 minutes
Hertha BSC’s CEO surprises viewers on TV with a perfectly color-coordinated bookshelf. It’s a visual delight for those with a penchant for order or a perfectionist streak. Bookshelves often appear messy and randomly stocked due to the varying colors, heights, and widths of the books. Here are seven unique ideas for organizing bookshelves for those who can no longer tolerate the cluttered look.
For Michael Preetz, the COVID-19 crisis and the associated isolation bring entirely new challenges. According to him, he entertains his son by having him organize the bookshelf. We have a few more suggestions. Differently sized books, those that always stand crooked, or ones that don’t match in color can negatively affect a room’s overall appearance. To prevent this, myHOMEBOOK presents seven ways to organize books–one of which is strongly discouraged.
6 Good Ideas for Organizing Books–and One Bad One
1. The Classic Way
First and foremost, there are the classic methods for organizing books–for the less creative minds striving for perfectionism. Arrange the books on the shelf either alphabetically or by topic. The advantage of these methods: You can find books quickly.
2. By Color Gradient
Book covers come in all imaginable colors. This fact can be used to your advantage when organizing. From black to gray to white–the scheme is clear. Simply extend the gradient over several levels of the bookshelf, and you have an eye-catcher.
Michael Preetz, managing director of the soccer club Hertha BSC, seems to be a fan of this style. During the sports discussion round Doppelpass on Sport1, he showed a perfectly color-coordinated bookshelf in the background.
Besides homeschooling our little one, we also need to keep him a bit entertained. That’s why he was tasked last week with organizing the bookshelf by color. Next week, the alphabet is on the agenda.
Michael Preetz, Managing Director of Hertha BSC in a video chat on Sport1’s “Doppelpass”
3. As a Rainbow
Instead of a color gradient, books can also be arranged as a rainbow. However, this requires many colorful books to make the result effective.
4. Unique Patterns
Book colors can also be sorted into patterns–for example, by alternating two books of the same color scheme. Not a fan of color sorting? Then you can play with the arrangement of the books. One option could be to alternate five books upright and five books sideways. It’s important that the book groups have the same or at least a similar height or length to look uniform. A slightly more elaborate alternative is a zigzag pattern: For this, the books must be stacked diagonally.
Also interesting: Build a shelf with plenty of storage space yourself
6. Uniform Wrapping
The problem with sorting by colors is that you rarely have books in all shades. And the approach should not be to buy books solely because of their cover. If you still want to sort your bookshelf by a color system, you can design the covers uniformly yourself. All you need are old newspapers or wrapping paper to wrap around the books. This not only protects them but also makes them look uniform in the end.
5. By Height
Reclam booklets, paperbacks, atlases: Books also come in different heights and widths. By arranging the books, you can create several looks when organizing. From small to large or vice versa, as a curve or all at one height–what you choose depends on the books available.
7. Simply Backward
An unusual and now trendy way to organize books is to place them backward on the shelf, so the pages face forward.
myHOMEBOOK’s opinion:
The editorial team doesn’t think much of this method of organizing books. While the look might spark conversation among guests, it’s not practical at all. Searching for a specific book becomes nearly impossible–so this scheme is only suitable for those who use books solely for decoration and not for reading.