How To Make Your Own Stunning Home Library

As kids, many of us no doubt dreamed of one day having our very own home library. Not only are they a fantastic way of organising your book collection, but they also add a whole new dynamic element to your home decor. While the task itself may seem daunting, sorting through your collection can be very therapeutic, plus you’ll probably dig up some old gems from your past.

Here’s how to make your very own home library.

Step 1: Choose a room

While it can be tempting to pick a room swimming with natural light, you’re giving your books a death sentence. Books tend to fade over time and that process can be quickly fast tracked by a brightly lit room. Instead, pick somewhere dry and dust-free (and with a comfy reading chair).

Step 2: Fill it with shelves

Stacking your books in floor-to-ceiling piles may look trendy but it’s a disaster waiting to happen, plus it’ll be a nightmare to find anything. As hard as it is for any booklover to spend money on anything that isn’t books, the second step to building your dream library is buying some shelves. Recessed or built-in bookshelves can still give you that impressive floor to ceiling look but will also be a lot more catalogue-friendly. If you’re a renter, you can also opt for freestanding bookcases, which come in a whole spectrum of sizes and colours.

If you do choose to go for the floor-to-ceiling look, make sure you invest in a book ladder, or you could face the same untimely end as the book piles we mentioned earlier.

Step 3: Sort through your collection

As much as it pains you to even consider, it might be possible that you have too many books. Clues to look for if this is the case is books stacked next to shelves, books acting as other furniture or books in places where they shouldn’t be, i.e. stacked behind the fridge. The reality is that books are heavy, bulky and can take up a lot of space. The best thing you can do for your home library is to first sort through your collection and pull out any books that are either damaged or you don’t foresee ever having a use for. Then, either throw them out or donate them. Easy.

Step 4: Catalogue the books

You can lose track of your books over time, especially if you’ve moved around a bit. One way of keeping a record of all your reads is by cataloguing them. Technology may be slowly destroying the novelty of books themselves, but it’s also a blessing. You can download a simple phone app like Goodreads to scan your book barcodes and keep a record of all the novels you own. Not only will it stop you doubling up on books but it will also help when it comes to lending books to others.

Step 5: Fill the shelves

When it comes to filling the shelves, there are a dozen different ways to do it. You can organise them alphabetically by title or author, sort by genre or size, or you can arrange them in colour order, or even year of release. Whatever method you choose, the key to any successful ordering is remembering which way you did it. Otherwise you could waste precious reading hours every evening looking for Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets tucked in your forgotten ‘boy wizards with dead parents’ section.

Step 6: Wear protection

Many people don’t realise that book worms are real. Well, book bugs, rodents and moisture are, and they can all be deadly to your library. Silverfish in particular have a hunger for glue and paper, while termites love to chomp on wooden shelves. Try to keep as much moisture and dust away from your shelves to prevent attacks from insects and vermin. By keeping the moisture levels down, you’ll also be fending off fungus and mould.

Step 7: Pick a page-turner & relax

Now that all the hard work’s over, check yourself out a book from your brand new home library and enjoy a well-earned afternoon read in your favourite reading nook. You’ve earned it.

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