Spring is in the air and it makes everyone want to open up their windows and let the clean air in while they freshen up their surroundings. Last week while I was on my blogging sabbatical in recognition of, For Japan With Love, I decided to use my time off wisely. On a side-note...the For Japan With Love fundraiser MORE than exceeded their original $5,000.00 goal within the first days and as of today they have received over $60,000.00 in donations...woo hoo! You have until March 31st if you would still like to help this wonderful program.
So I decided to tackle a project that I'd been putting off for some time...purging my VHS tapes and making better use of my bookshelves. It must be Spring Fever because one of my blogging buddies, Denyse of My Crazy Beautiful Life, was also re-organizing her bookshelves this week and blogged about how It Never Ends! {Boy can I relate ;} There is only one way to handle this...just dig in and tackle it one shelf at at time. As Toni of, a bowl full of Lemons, explains it in her new weekly LINK PARTY called "One Project at at Time" where every Tuesday you can strut your stuff!
It began with ONE bookcase and eventually morphed into revamping THREE bookcases...the primary subject in the photo below shows ALL of the VHS tapes displayed next to my chair where I blog daily ;)
Believe it or not...we did purge the VHS tapes on two separate occasions before...originally when my son first went off to college and then again when we downsized here to the Love Shack. Emotionally I was attached to these tapes more than my DH...he's a techy after-all and wanted to originally replace all the VHS tapes with DVDs when they first came out. AND now that we have a blue-ray player...you know the drill! WELL that is not gonna happen because I'm tired of changing formats with every new gadget that comes out and to be quite honest...now that we use Netflix we just don't watch our VHS/DVDs that much. So my goal was to reduce the VHS tapes down to TWO shelves in lieu of the current six...
AND since this bookshelf also acts as my end table, I was tired of only have three-inches of "real-estate" to set my tea cup, pencil cup, remotes and whatever else I needed, teetering on there ;)
This bookcase was also used to gather my numerous magazine clippings for future sorting.
Ideally, I liked to purge my magazines and place my favorite decorating, cooking and fashion designs into these magnetic photo albums. While purgining, I'm cutting out collage-art clippings and coupons and placing them in the drawers below.
But the reality was...that it was too hard to bend down into this tight space and ultimately I'd gather the clippings in piles and folders and place them in my hanging file bins for future sorting and cutting.
SO OUT went the sorting bin and piles of VHS tapes and here is the final result for this bookcase...
MUCH BETTER...the bookcase on the left stayed the same because it functions quite well. AND now the one on the right works well and meets all my needs...plenty of real estate ;)
Room for more than one drink; my pencil/eye wear cup; the cutest little lamp; and all the books that I'm currently reading. Which makes me ask...AM I the only one who reads more than one book at a time?
Now the top shelves look neat and clean and they hold my favorite historical novels and self-help books that I love to refer back to when journaling.
The two lower shelves hold the remaining VHS tapes that I'm just not ready to give up and allowed myself to keep. Especially the instructional videos for art, golfing and such...so they get placed onto the very bottom...aka...hard to reach shelf ;)
As I mentioned previously...this project started with ONE bookcase and soon I found myself re-arranging the books across the way in what we loving refer to as the "Library Wall".
In an effort to de-clutter the corner, I removed the tall black corner stand and replaced with a much smaller plant stand. The small red painted table was also not working for us anymore so it's off to the consignment shop and in it's place is a large round basket that is sturdy and great for catching things as we come in the door. Right now the space if full of five green grocery bags filled with the VHS tapes that I purged. They are going to family members who don't have a lot of movies or cable channels and will appreciate them for now.
These two bookcases were also purged and the books and dispalys were re-arranged so that they didn't seem so top-heavy. The general "de-clutter" rule since moving in here to the Love Shack has been...that everytime you bring something new in...something old has to go out. For our books, we place our old ones on Amazon and every week I'm always taking something to the post office to mail off. We actually do not buy as many books/magazines as we use to because we've learned that we really don't have to HAVE all that stuff! Need some help...just ask yourself...How many times do you buy a book, bring it home, read it once and never pick it up again?
And finally, I moved my magnetic photo albums over here so that I'd have better access to them. The reality is...that it's so much easier for me to pull out an album; a file of clippings; and to sit at my studio desk and arrange them there...where it's so much more comfortable. All the best, thought-out plans... sometimes just don't work...because you just don't know IF it will work for you until you've lived it a while!
Easy Steps to Organize and Arrange Your Bookshelves:
Assign A Task: determine how you are going to use EACH shelf.
- TO DISPLAY items such as artwork, photos, nicknacks.
- TO HOLD items such as Books, DVDs, CDs by category and type.
- TO FUNCTION as an end-table, nightstand or entrance table, etc.
Balance the Shelves: my MIXING UP the tasks and finding an arrangement that is neither too crowded or too sparse...like Goldilocks...it's just right!
- Try stacking your books both vertically and horizontally and sort by color to break up the monotony and giving your eye a place to land.
- Add lighting by attaching lights to the tops of your bookshelves or by placing small lamps inside.
- Put un-sightly items on the bottom shelves and cover/hide them behind soft fabric curtains hung with tension rods (if you can't sew...try valances or cafe curtains purchased from a store).
- Place artwork in front of your books, DVDs or CDs to make a bold statement and to keep the eyes flowing in lieu of having it stopped by the multiple, similar items.
- Turn magazine holders around and accent them with your favorite vinyl quotes...now that's mixing form and function!
- Follow a trend, Bookjack Genius, and cover all your books in coordinating papers. OR turn their spines all around so that their paper is showing for a mono-chromatic look.
Finding the perfect arrangement {for you ;} is going to take you a few practice runs. Don't let that stop you...try to enjoy the process until you find that final ONE that works for you and meets all of your needs. The best advise is...you'll know it when you see it ;)
Fondly, Roberta
I appreciate you the way you presented these simple steps. I want to follow this.
Posted by: jewelry making | May 10, 2011 at 04:27 AM
I love how you organize your stuff. It's very detailed..
Posted by: Solid Oak Tables | May 02, 2011 at 11:56 PM
Everything looks much nicer in the after photos. I use the library and netflix so I have very few things that need a home in my place. I do have way to many grandchildren's toys though.
Posted by: Donnie | March 30, 2011 at 10:37 AM
OK...I have lots to say here!!!
First, Thanks for the 5 minutes of fame (blushing)...
Your shelf looks like mine...trying to squeeze a coffee cup and all my other things I try to put on there when I'm sitting in the chair on my laptop...I love that you made room and put that little lamp in there..I'm using that one!!
Second, Is that a bell you ring to get a drink??? (LMAO)
I can't believe you have all them VHS tapes...I don't even know where mine are at!!
Third, Your pencil/eyeglass holder made me laugh...love it!!
I also like the corner better that you took those shelves out of there...it's a more functional space now!!
Final, I want the shelf lights...everytime we go to IKEA I drool :)~
Posted by: Denyse@Crazy Beautiful Life | March 29, 2011 at 06:37 PM