5 Simple Ways to Reorganize Your Bookshelves

Are your unorganized bookshelves starting to make you feel anxious? For the avid book reader, keeping up with our bookshelves is a daunting task. As more books come piling in with every trip to the bookstore, we start to feel overwhelmed. With spring cleaning just around the corner, here are five simple ways to reorganize your bookshelves this weekend!

I know when I’ve completed a task of reorganization or cleaning, I feel much more motivated to do something relaxing, such as reading. And I hope these tips will help you do the same. Now, I’ve left out alphabetical organization because it seems like a given. These are techniques to give a unique feel to your personal library.

Organize by Color

The first approach is to organize by color. Especially if you’re drawn to book covers and their designs, this might be the style for you. I know there are still books that I read in middle school where I remember the covers, but I don’t remember the story. You could also turn books to face outward at the end of the rows to show off the unique design.

Stacking

Don’t be afraid to stack books! I find that lining books up in a row can feel boring after a while. So change it up by stacking several books at the beginning, end, or even in the middle of the row. Put a photo on top of the stack or even a small plant to add life and make it cute.

Organize by Genre

Maybe alphabetical or the color approach to organization isn’t for you. Then organizing by genre or subject might be the way to go. Grouping books by genre allows you to find your next read easily if you feel like reading science fiction or mystery. And once you’ve got the books grouped by subject, try organizing one more level down. Organizing by author’s last name within the genre can help create a method to the madness.

Separate Antique and Modern

Do you have any antique, hand-me-down books that don’t feel like they belong with the more modern books? Separating them and giving them their own shelf or bookcase can make them feel more special, because they are. Antique books are special and deserve a little extra attention. They also look really nice all by themselves, adding a nice touch to any room.

Include a To-Be-Read Shelf

Once you’ve organized your bookshelves exactly as you’d like, go through them and pick some books you’d like to read. Then, dedicate a shelf to those books in your to-be-read pile. I’ve got an entire shelf for the physical books I’d like to read, and it’s ever-growing! But it’s nice to finish a book and head over to my shelf to pick my next book. Instead of being overwhelmed by my other shelves and shelves of books to choose from. Keeping your options limited to that one shelf can prevent paralyzation from too many options.

There you go! Five ways to reorganize your bookshelves just in time for spring cleaning. If you’re feeling extra ambitious, you might also try clearing the bottom shelves of all bookshelves for toys. I know with my son crawling now, he’s tempted to explore all of the bottom bookshelves. But since he’s started crawling, we started to clear all bottom shelves for his toys. That way, he no longer has access to any of the books he may want to read in the future.

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