Building bookshelves

Check out the neighbours! Love the ceramic bookcase nestled into this building in Amsterdam - that's my kind of architecture. I wouldn't mind looking at that view either, beats your average brick wall. Thanks BookshelfPorn.

House of books

Another Rubyfire-dream-home contender. 

Floor to ceiling wall to wall books. Bliss. I'll add fresh flowers in each room, some lovely people, a roast in the oven. 
And I'll take the pooch too. 

Found it here.

Books alive

OK, it's been a YouTube kind of day. This one reminded me of my own 
as-yet-unresolved dilemma...

New order

Dilemma: there are books everywhere. EVERYWHERE. 
I know, lucky me :) So how do I organise +-800 books across seven bookcases in different rooms in my house? 
Alphabetically yes, but that's not enough. Fiction, non-fiction, creative non-fiction. Classics, poetry, art, philosophy, biography, music, aviation, travel, reference. Journals, periodicals, coffee table books, children's books, miniature books.
Then there's shelf size to consider. One bookcase might perfectly house poetry, for example, but what happens when a volume doesn't fit on the shelf in which it is alphabetically required to reside? Does one start an A-Z shelf just for the big books?
And aesthetics. The books in my loungeroom are, for the sake of form over function, arranged in blocks of colour. (Which to a purist would be akin to filing a Mills & Boon in between Madame Bovary and Tess of the D'Urbervilles. Horrors!) Clearly, an alphabetised system will mess with my interior design palette - although I'm prepared to concede on this particular point.
But you can see from the images above (courtesy of Bookshelf Porn) how form is vital to function when it comes to books and decorating. Cool huh!...perhaps I should experiment with some book art at home.
How do you organise your books? Does anyone have an ingenious system that I need to know about??

Libraries New York-style

Apparently in New York having bookshelves in an apartment constitutes a 'library'. At least according to real estate agents anyway. Check out these home libraries in the Big Apple, yours for the bargain price of a few million bucks... I'll take the bottom one thanks.

Read

Cool shot from Bookshelf Porn.

Got to love the Dutch...

...because some bright spark in the Netherlands created this! A reference desk made entirely from books. It's housed in the Delft University of Technology.  Only problem is - what happens when you want to read one? 

Bookshelf porn

Look - a new favourite blog! There's a fresh mouth-watering image posted each day. I especially like one reader's comment:

"Dear people who read Bookshelf Porn, I am sure you are all smart, super good-looking, talented, funny and you probably smell good too."

But of course.

You may wish to divert your computer screen from public view so you can check out these luscious delights in private...

Arf arf

When I get my dream home I also want a dog - one or two of the living breathing Staffie kind and one or two of the wooden designer variety. How cool are these library dogs! From the Pack of Dogs project, these beauties come in a range of designs with fabulous names inspired by famous Mexican wrestlers like Mistico, El Santo, Dos Caros Jr. They work as side tables, benches, stools and book shelves. Good dog.

Life with books...

What is a bibliophile to do? Stacks of books piling up in every available space (no I'm not a convert to the Kindle / iPad...yet.) My dream would be to start from scratch and design my books into my home - imagine having enough space to house an endless stream of lovely fat, skinny, long, tall, short, stumpy, hard, soft books. Bliss. 
In the meantime...found these creative ideas online. The well-read Ex Libris dining table, the found object and the book porcupine.

Wild fancy...

Ooh look! The perfect winter piece for my lounge. I love this polar bear bookcase...Soho cool. Spotted in the reception of New York's Crosby Street Hotel.

I wish...!

I don't know where this home is or who it belongs to but look how beautiful it is with its tactile wall of books (colour co-ordinated no less!) and dreamy reading window...love love!

Book voyeur #5

My seven year old friend, Mr Chatterbox, saw me loading up this photo and wanted to know whose bookcase it was. I told him it belongs to one of my favourite people, BreadHead, who lives in Africa.
"She must get very hot and bothered," he replied. "Because it's very sunny in Africa."
It is very sunny in Africa. But sometimes on the highveld it gets very cold too, and rainy. And you must stay inside all day and read a good book.
BreadHead doesn't know I took this sneaky snap of her bookcase but I love it because it reminds me of her home, which is a second home to me, warm and cosy and full of brightness. Just like BreadHead.

Book voyeur #4

In the beautiful, gracious country home of A and J in the Southern Highlands, a family's various interests are revealed nestling around the fireplace.
If I could design my own home, I'd design it around my books. As J, who did design his home, says: "We wanted this room to feel warm and enveloping, a place where we could sit and be surrounded by things that are welcoming and personal."
This room makes me want to curl up by the fireside with a glass of red and disappear into storyworld...

Book voyeur #3

OK Mobsters, see if you can guess whose books we're zoning in on today...
This is one full to bursting bookcase! Brilliant! Just as no one likes to see a scrawny baby, no booklover likes to see a malnourished bookcase.
Its owner, let's call him Mr X for now, says:
"Top shelf - sci-fi/fantasy collection including Asimov (his Foundation series), Douglas Adam's Hitchhikers Guide trilogy in four parts, Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy and Tolkein's Lord of the Rings. Also hiding in there is a model of the C152 I learnt to fly in, Frank Herbert's classic Dune and somewhat embarrassingly L. Ron Hubbard's Battlefield Earth, which is terrible.
"Next shelf - [Ms X's books] Harry Potter en mass, and a collection of classic fairy tales stand out.
"Next shelf - my aviation library. All manner of stuff but lots of biographies/autobiographies, with a tendency to first print runs with an intact dust jacket.
"Next three shelves - all my other books, share trading, investing, science, maths, manhood, travel, adventure, phrasebooks and dictionaries, novels, surfing, philosophy, religion, history....
"Bottom shelf - photo albums, stereo and miscellaneous junk.
"The proportion of books by subject matter seems to closely replicate my interest level in each topic!"
Which takes us back to the original question...are we what we read?

Book voyeur #2

From the designer files...
This book shelf, belonging to my cherished friends D and G in Africa, could be straight out of the pages of the bibliophile's treasury, Books Do Furnish A Room.
I love how the books present a colourful splatter amid the tres chic minimalism of the furnishings. And what better than a touch of animal skin with your reading to unleash your wild side ;)

Book voyeur #1

A huge thank you to everyone who answered the call and sent me photos of their bookcases.
This week is Voyeur Week on Rubyfire Writes - where we traipse nonchalantly through the lives and loves of my mates via their bookshelves. And it begs the question...are we what we read?

Let's kick off with the Grady's testament to apartment living where bookshelves house not only books but all manner of treasures.
K says: "Here is our bookcase. Its from IKEA and I hate it because its such crap quality and the backing is falling out! From top left going down we have... my novels, travel books, cookbooks, flying books, QANTAS manuals (2 shelves). Then top right going down... more of my novels, Rich's books, miscellaneous x2 shelves (street directory, DIY books, dictionary, scuba diving books, etc.), then a shelf with our wedding album with old laptop and clock on top (no books!), bottom shelf has more flying documents in big folders. Overall, its a boring, old, disorganised bookcase that needs to be upgraded."
I like its height and homeliness. Makes me want to dive right in. Ooh, second shelf from the top, on the right, Porno. What's that like K...?

Books Do Furnish A Room...

Absolutely adore this book I was given for Christmas! 

Books Do Furnish a Room by Leslie Geddes-Brown. 

It's a visual feast for any bibliophile and makes me green with envy. Oh to have the space and flair to creatively house all those beautiful books...

Bookcases to kill for...

If 'bibliophilia' is a love of books - what is a love of bookshelves? 

How fantastic are these modern interpretations of the humble bookcase! 

This delicious reading chair from Fishbol Design Atelier is crying out to be sitting in my lounge - love love love! OK it needs a cushion and it does come with various options in felt.

Imagine a Kartell bookworm curling and unfurling along your hallway....sigh

And I love the organised chaos of this Cyrill Drummerson design.

Check out this metal coffee table Nar Bookcase by Omer Unal. 

At first glance I wasn't sure whether I could subject my beloved volumes to the wire bisection of its suspension storage design...but on reflection it's ingenious! The hanging arrangement doubles as a bookmark and, as an added bonus, protects the books from dust.

And I couldn't leave out this little gem...Flying Vee. The stark and simple L and V shaped metal shelves let the booklover design the space according to their own whim - brilliant!

These two are for my friend G who giggled at, but appreciated, the thought that went into colour coding my bookcase ;)

I'm starting a thread on other peoples' bookshelves - what does yours look like? I'd love to make a photo montage - please send in a pic!