A Quick Update
Last month I had an extra day off of work and decided to use it to get some things done around the house. I’m pretty sure I was a domestic goddess. In the midst of my cleaning, cooking, and laundry, I took notice of a bookshelf in our living room that just kept bothering me. It simply looked a mess. But, I wasn’t sure what I could do with it. Books were neatly arranged on it, but every time my eye wandered over to it, everything just felt amiss.
I wish I had a “before” picture to show you. Unfortunately, I still haven’t caught on to the need to take such photos. So, I’ll just have to ask you to trust me on this one. Anyway, while I was cleaning, I found myself standing in front of the bookshelf and wondering what to do. And then it hit me. I had already pinned some inspiration a while back.
I’ve actually got a pinterest board dedicated to my obsession for books – but that’s a post for a whole other day.
So, with my inspiration photo in mind, I got to work. I removed all the books from the shelf and grouped them by color. I started with basic color groups like black, blue, green, red, yellow, white, etc. I pretty much started with primary colors.
After I had these main groups organized, I pulled out sub-groups if any emerged. For instance, in the yellow group, I felt like there were enough beiges and golds that were quite different from the yellow. So, those colors got their own group.
Finally, I re-shelved the books, according to color, starting with the darkest colors on the bottom and worked my way up to the top. What I have now, is a bookshelf organized by color but much more pleasing to view. (This would be a really great moment for a “from this to this” photo. Argh!) Check it out:
The completed bookshelf. Much more pleasing to the eye.
A close-up of the shelf. Now, I’m looking for a great piece of art, dominated by light colors to hang on the wall just above it.
I think one of my favorite things about this is that during college I used to work at a bookstore. On more that one occasion, a customer would come into the store and become infuriated with the staff when we couldn’t help them find a book based on its color. The conversation would go something like this:
Customer: “I’m looking for a book.” Me: “Great! What’s it called?” Customer: “I don’t know, but it has a blue cover.” Me: “Uh. Okay. Who is the author.” Customer: “I don’t know, but it has a blue cover.” Me: “Uh. Er. Um. Do you know what it’s about?” Customer: “A girl. It has a blue cover. Don’t you know the book?” Me: “We don’t organize the books by color.” Customer: “Is there a manager?”If only that customer could see me now!
What do you think? Any quick updates or quick fIxes you’ve made lately?
Love it!