For The Love Of Books

For The Love Of Books

I had originally planned on writing about doing altered books, since it’s my favorite art form to play with. Then I got to thinking about bookcases. That led to some of my favorite odd designs I’ve found on the Internet. And so today’s posting will be about bookcases. I’ve always wanted a really large house big enough to have a room I could snootily call “the library”, as in, “The papers are on my desk in the library.”  It would have floor to ceiling shelving requiring a ladder on a track that would slide to whatever shelf you needed. And of course, that’s where I would have my evening cocktail before dinner….

Back to reality though. I’ve seen some really artistic cases and shelving ideas that I think would be so fun to have, but once again, it would take a pretty large house, which I will never have. So here are some of my daydreams:

The Wisdom Tree. This is one of the first ones I found on the Internet. Don’t remember what led me to it, but I thought this was just AWESOME. It was referred to as a “Dr. Seuss-type” bookcase. I remember showing it to Paul and telling him it would make a REALLY nice present someday (hint hint). He turned up his nose at it, saying it wouldn’t be very practical. Well, of course not! That wasn’t the point! It was ART…it didn’t have to be practical! You wouldn’t be able to put that many books on it, but that’s why you’d have all the other bookcases….

Cat Bookcase. This was the second one I discovered. There was actually a little video showing the cat walking up the steps to the little “scoop” at the top and settling down. Neat design. Seriously doubt that I could ever get one of my cats to cooperate enough climb up there, but fun to think about.

Quad Bookcase. Just one of many neat designs in this general area.

Book Tree. Love, love, love this one! I could see a room with one of these against every wall.

Bookcase Stairs. What an idea!! I’ve seen many clever ideas for storage incorporated into stairs, and having shelving going up the walls next to the stairs, but nothing like this. I just love this! This one is probably the least practical of them all, and not really viable if you want to be able to climb those stairs, unless all the books are paperbacks. Or you have very long legs. Still a neat idea.

READ! Last but not least. Do what it says.