Book Shelf Organization

I've been sorting through boxes and tubs in our basement, trying to make room for the stuff I brought home from my parents' house. I had some books stored on open shelving in the basement storage room and decided that wasn't the best place for them, so I embarked on a big SHIFTAROO -- moving books from one place to another and packing up books we don't need right now. This ended up being a bigger task than anticipated, which is the story of my life these days!

Anyway, we've got some great closed cupboard shelves on either side of our fireplace which were full of stuff which didn't really need to be housed there. (Trust me, it was so bad that I didn't even take a BEFORE picture!) I decided the shelves would be perfect for some of our books...if they weren't so darn DEEP! As you can see, the shelves are deep enough to accommodate two rows of books, but I absolutely hate arranging books that way because you can't get to the back ones easily.

(Yes, I kept my old Childcraft books! I absolutely loved them as a little girl -- and still do!)

So I thought about ways to use the space more efficiently and came up with the idea of using baskets for smaller books. (Now I'm sure I'm not the first person to think of this idea...but this is the first time I've ever thought of it!) I purchased several small baskets from Target (just $2.99 each) and filled them with paperbacks. This plan ended up working perfectly: Just lift out the baskets to get to the books in back!

I used a slightly bigger basket to accommodate my collection of childhood storybooks. I love that I can just lift out the basket and see them all! :) At the back of this shelf, I gathered up all of our yearbooks and put them in date order, as part of my attempt to put our books together by subject, too. I haven't employed my friend Mr. Dewey Decimal just yet, but I'll admit that I've considered it! Handling books brings out my inner librarian. :)

So after the big SHIFTAROO, I'm very happy with how these shelves are being utilized now! If you have deep closet shelves and lots of books, maybe this idea will work for you, too!

jp