Clutter Busters: Books

Books are wonderful things. They can be sources of information, encouragement and knowledge. From an early age, books can and do play an important role for many of us with regard to learning about the world about us. They record history, as well as wisdom past down from past generations. Plus, books can be a wonderful source of entertainment also.

Yet, the question often arises about how best to store them.

What can be done, to best organise those piles and piles of books that we can accumulate, and which can also come in a diverse range of shapes and sizes?

What can be done, in order to make their presence not just another source of visual clutter?

What can be done to endeavour to guard us against those very books simply overwhelming us, due to their presence, their numbers and their physical appearance?

There are so many various approaches that can be taken on board, when it comes to both storing and organising collections of books.

Here are two approaches that my friend in Dunedin is choosing to use, that are effective for quite distinct reasons. They are both proving to be a current positive solution for my friend and her particular household.


Making a shelf or two on a bookcase visually appealing by storing the books in groupings, according to a common colouring, is a great approach particularly for those of us that are visual people. Why not enjoy looking at something like your very own rainbow, care of your bookshelves!

This particular approach is really quite attractive to view. It really doesn't take much effort to set up, and it certainly makes it easy to determine what books go where in the future! You simply put books back in position alongside others also in that particular colouring. My friend is currently displaying books in this fashion, and it is really quite lovely to look at.

Another great way of storing books, particularly children's books, is to use a storage container as an alternative to a bookshelf. A light-weight chest or trunk can be a great means of keeping books on hand, in a bedroom or living area, without creating a lot of visual clutter.


Keeping books at child level and readily accessible, means there is also no risk of tall bookcases or shelves toppling over and on to your little one, should they decide to climb or pull at a taller piece of furniture in an attempt to get to a treasured storybook.


Storing books inside a chest, like this light-weight cane chest, allows a child of any age to enjoy being able to select a favourite book easily, rather quickly, and pretty much without the aid of an adult. I personally like the idea of being able to contain a collection of children's books within a container with a lid which helps to keep it all contained, and also for the most part out of sight.

Like most collections within the home, books can become clutter. This is predominately due to the numbers that we can over time collect and choose to hold onto. Being able to be innovative, with regard to the systems of organization that are embraced to store and house them, can help us to avoid feeling overwhelmed by clutter. These two innovative ways of organizing books are two effective clutter busting methods used within my friend's household.

Books are great. Even more so too, when they are able to be organized within our homes, in a way that serves our particular household situation well.

Feel free to share via a comment what means of storing and organizing books your household are currently using.

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