Given the state of my office bookshelves - two real bookshelf units, augmented with various planks and adapted Habitat shelving braced to the ceiling beams with garden wire - it's embarrassing to see the organisation and tidiness of the many creative designer bookshelf systems. See Incredible Things for 20 Brilliant Bookcases; WebUrbanist for 20 Unusually Brilliant Bookcase and Bookshelf Designs: Creative, Modular and Unique Furniture and 15 (More!) Unusually Brilliant Book Shelving Systems: Creative and Modular Urban Furniture; and the Freshome blog, 30 of the Most Creative Bookshelves Designs.
Yet more, ongoing, at Bookshelf, "The home of interesting bookshelves, bookcases and things that look like them". Bookshelf has a companion site, Shedworking, "the only daily updated guide to the lifestyles of shedworkers and those who work in shedlike atmosphere".
- Ray
While there is nothing more captivating than a room full of books, there are bookcases and then there are bookcases. Most of these designs seem to me to be more about disguising the fact that one has books than they are about celebrating them. Like putting knickknacks in amongst one's books as if the books in themselves aren't enough. Bookcases should be about making the books available to read. I like the color-coded spines, though, and I love the hidden doorway!
ReplyDeleteI most like the ones such as the Rafter Bookshelf that make good use of limited space; less so (though I'm not one to pass judgement on this matter) on ones like Opus Shelving that are likely to distort books by stacking them at odd angles.
ReplyDeleteThat's a strangely revealing picture.
ReplyDeleteIn the Canon Digital Photography Forums a few years ago they had a Photo Your Fridge thread with photos that I found to be similarly revealing of their owners.
I would like self-dusting bookshelves that are sturdy enough so that when I climb up them (and I always climb up them) they don't wobble dangerously.