The 400-Book Styling Challenge

There are many social media posts, videos, and pins that show you how to style a couple of books on your shelves. But what do you do when your book collection amounts to more than 400 books, comics, and reference materials.

Here to help with my own pre-reno living room that came equipped with five built-in bookshelves. Originally the back of the builtin was painted to match the mushroom grey walls and the mirrored center was used to hold the previous homeowners' porcelain doll collection.

5 Tips for styling bookshelves with books:

1. Vary the position of the books; lay some on their sides, others standing up.

2. Tuck the spines in. Place books with covers that introduce unwanted color to the room backward; pages facing outward.

3. Break up the wall of books with decorative items & photos.

4. Create symmetry where possible. Notice the "look" of a shelf is repeated on both the right & left sides.

5. Introduce file boxes or binders for magazines, catalogs, and comics.

Now this space is still a work in progress, yet this living room/home office is where the parents & kids call "dibs" for their meetings and online school sessions.

It's not just pretty, it works!