Books! Inside Out Design Coaching

Tell us all about your books and your home:

- How do you display or store books in your home? Out in the open? Tucked away? Piled up?
- Do you consider some books private?

- Are some of your books “keepers” and others just in your life temporarily?
- Are books part of what makes your home your home?

All our books are in full view -- OUT. As I used to work in bookstores, they are organized: alpha by author in fiction, by title in non-fiction, by subject in reference. "Sections" include: general fiction, general non-fiction, general reference, drama, poetry, biography, baseball fiction, oversized books, auto books, travel, language tapes & cd's, cookbooks, children's, my business reference, a section for Viking Portables and a section for Library of America. And there is a stack of books to read next. As many books have passed thorough my hands over the years, all that are now with me are "keepers," but I've weeded out (and keep weeding) at all times. Books are not only part of what makes up my home, but they're what I notice most in others' homes -- I'd like to be otherwise, but I can't help it. Does that sound too snotty?

In my former home, I had a library and I loved to go in there and look through all my books. They have always been a source of wisdom and comfort for me.

In my present home, I have them displayed on shelves in various rooms. It's still a comfort to have my favorite books around, but not the same as having a personal library.

Most books I display very publicly, however, some are more discreetly displayed or not displayed at all. For example, I might have books of a more personal nature stored in a more personal space such as the bedroom.

The only books that I display in my home are my art books. They are stacked at one end of my fire place mantel. I have books in a bookshelf in my office and while I don't consider them private, I prefer to keep my general reading material out of my living areas. I also have a stack of books in my bedroom and they consist of my "to read" books.

I also have a lot of cook books, but they, too, are kept in a cupboard in my kitchen.

- dk haas

I grew up in a home where we actually had a library. It was my parents' bedroom. All four walls had floor to ceiling bookshelves which were all full. That library has been there for 48 years. The books are a collection my parents made when they were younger, probably not even married. I'm hoping that some of them are worth something, being so old. But to me, all the books are dusty and uninteresting and the look of the room is not pleasing. But then neither is their marriage. They now have separate bedrooms.

I do not collect books, although I am reading one or two all the time. I read them and pass them on. I have two shelves in one closed cabinet that have my reference books for 12 Step programs, knitting, house repairs, some self-help and a few books from my childhood. In my kitchen, I have one shelf of cookbooks and I get rid of those when I get bored. My opinion about books is that they should be recycled, not collected.

- Francesca

I have very few books left. I have given many away and also traded them at the used bookstore, when I was doing a major clutter-clearing effort a number of years ago. I traded them for credit, and can get music CD's instead of books.

I have my books which are now narrowed down to my favorites, ones I plan to read, (or ones I'm mentioned in the acknowledgement section) in my office. I like them to be neat and orderly on the shelves, to support my mind in staying clear. I try to pass on good books to friends and keep the knowledge alive and moving within my circles. I read a few books at a time and keep those on my bedside table. They are on different topics, so I pick up the one I'm most in the mood to read. I read at night, but only a few pages because I fall asleep. This makes me a very slow reader!

I actually use a few books as "photographs" — I have a few artbooks (most noticeably George Rodrigue's "Blue Dog") standing on a secretary and mantle, using photo stands. I like this because I can always see my favorite artbooks, and they are always right 'at hand.' Most of my college books from my Russian & Eastern European studies concentration I keep in the bookcases next to my fireplace. These are books that remind me of good times in my life, and take me to such different places than where I live. And my second major, economics, wellllll... those books are in stacks in various places of my house, waiting to be revisited when I actually need to look something up.