Bookshelf Organisation — The Best and Worst

From colour, to size, alphabetical, and more. Here are some ways to organise your bookshelf.

If you’re like me, your bookshelf is in a constant state of flux. I’m either taking a book out to read, trading on in at the local second-hand bookstore to get another one, or adding a newly-purchased tome to the collection. Keeping my bookshelf nice and organised sometimes seems like an impossible task.

Thankfully, there is no clear-cut way to do this, and here are a few options to try and see what works best for you.

Alphabetised by Author’s Surname

Commonly used on library shelves, this is probably one of the most common ways to organise your bookshelf. However, it really only works if you know the details of every book, and when your collection numbers in the dozens or more, you might occasionally forget a name or two.

By Family Member

My family all have a love for reading, and our tastes were often very different from each other. Luckily, we were each able to house our own collections, but if you are limited for space, or happen to have a large bookshelf to fill, sorting it by family member might be the best method for you.

It’s as simple as it sounds. Each family member gets a shelf, or section, and their books are then further organised. Each section should then preferably follow a similar organisation method: alphabetised, etc.

By Colour

I almost feel like this one is a dishonourable mention. Also referred to as…*retch*…the Instagram Method…this bookshelf organisation is done entirely by colour.

While I said above that you would need to remember the name of every author to find a book in the alphabetised organisation, it is even more ridiculous to remember the colour of the spine/cover.

If you do happen to like this type of bookshelf organisation for your home or bedroom, it might be cool to co-ordinate it with your colour-coded wardrobe!

By Genre

If you are like me, you have a bookshelf filled with almost every genre possible. Another interesting way to organise your bookshelf is to do it by genre.

In these individual sections, you can then sort them alphabetically or one of the other ways listed here.

Bonus Options

I may not have been too kind to those who organise their bookshelves by colour, but here are a few other methods that I find worse:

• By dimensions
• By word-length
• No organisation
• And the worst…by publication date!

How do you organise your bookshelf? Let us know!