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When my husband and I got married, we combined our book collections. I was absolutely in my element as I arranged them alphabetically by author on the shelves.
Shortly after we got married, we bought two Threshold tall bookcases from Target in a cherry finish. I might be in the minority, but cherry is my favorite finish! We added them to a different bookcase my husband had already owned.
After seeing how quickly we filled those bookcases, we bought a third bookcase from Target to match and got rid of my husband’s older bookcase.
A few moves later, we realized we needed another bookcase. But horror of horrors – Target had stopped selling our bookcase in cherry.
I was determined, though. I started hunting on Facebook Marketplace, and after a few months, I managed to find a matching cherry-finish bookcase within a manageable driving distance.
And of course, because we’re always short on book space, we quickly filled that fourth bookcase, too.
Making Room for More Books
One project I undertook to make more room was converting all our physical photo albums into photo books using Shutterfly. This allowed me to keep all our family memories while also significantly downsizing the amount of space our photo albums took up.
Another thing I try to do regularly is to go through our books and see which ones we no longer love or want to keep.
The problem?
This never yields a ton of shelf space because we love most of our books!
And that brings us to our current situation.
We have eight bookcases in our home:
- Four hold my husband’s and my books, along with our family photo books.
- Two hold my older son’s books, and he is currently as capacity.
- One holds my younger son’s books and is almost at capacity.
- One holds the books the boys share, and it is at capacity, too.
So, where do we go from here?
What Do You Do When You Have Too Many Books?
(My TBR piles and my husband’s… 42 books and counting.)
I could go through and try to declutter even more, but I know whatever I get rid of is no match for the approximately 40+ books sitting on our physical TBR piles.
And there’s another important detail: books don’t get a spot on a bookcase until we’ve read them.
Until then, they sit in neat piles next to each of our nightstands.
So even if I somehow managed to create more shelf space today, I’d eventually fill it again.
The space we keep our four main bookcases already full. There is no room for another bookcase – even if I happened to find another matching cherry one on Marketplace.
That means I need a long-term storage solution rather than another quick fix.
Book Storage Ideas I’m Considering
Here are a few ideas I’ve been considering for making more room for our growing book collection:
1) Move the Photo Books
One possibility is finding a smaller bookcase that could go in another area of the house specifically for our family photo books.
That would free up approximately one shelf on our existing bookcases – not a huge amount of space, but every shelf counts at this point!
2) Try a Spinning Bookcase
Another possibility is purchasing a space-saving spinning bookcase, like this.
These can fit into smaller areas than a traditional bookcase, which makes them appealing when you’re running out of wall space.
The problem is deciding which books would go on it and which books would stay on our regular shelves.
I’m not sure I’m ready to create two different systems for organizing our books!
💡Some other space-saving bookcase options:
3) Go Taller Instead of Wider
For my boys, we could potentially replace their current bookcases with taller ones.
This is one of the best book storage solutions for a small space because you’re using the same amount of floor space while gaining additional storage vertically.
And honestly, I don’t want a lack of bookshelf space to keep my kids from reading and discovering new stories. But practically speaking, we also need enough room to organize the books we already have.
4) Use Other Spaces in the House
Not every book necessarily needs to live in a traditional bookcase.
A small shelf in a hallway, a narrow bookshelf in a bedroom, floating shelves, or even an unused corner could provide a little extra storage.
The trick is finding spaces that aren’t already serving another important purpose.
5) Declutter – but be Realistic
Of course, the obvious answer is to declutter.
Go through your books and remove the ones you’ve fallen out of love with, know you’ll never reread, or simply don’t want to own anymore.
And if you get the desire to read one of those books again ten years from now?
Check it out from the library.
I’m still working on taking my own advice here.
6) Win the Lottery
Obviously, there is one foolproof solution.
Win the lottery and build my dream house complete with a floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall library and, of course, a sliding ladder.
Problem solved. 😉
The Dream: A Home Library
I’m sure I’m not the only booklover who has bumped into this particular problem.
There will always be new books being written. There will always be books we discover that we want to read. And there will always be another book that finds it way home with us.
I can think of worse things than having a house overflowing with books.
One of my dreams for future house is to have an entire room that is just books – floor to ceiling, wall to wall, and a sliding ladder is a must.
Until that happens, though, I need to figure out how to better store books in the house we’re in.
And maybe you’re in a similar position.
If you have more books than bookshelves, here are the things I’d recommend starting with:
- Declutter: Remove books you no longer want, love or plan to re-read.
- Go vertical: If you have short bookcases, consider replacing them with taller ones. You’ll use the same floor space while gaining vertical storage.
- Look for unused space: A narrow shelf, hallway, bedroom corner, or floating shelves can give you additional storage.
- Try a spinning bookcase: These can be useful when floor and wall space are limited.
- Win the lottery: Build your dream library, obviously. 😉
Final Thoughts
Do you declutter, find creative storage solutions, or simply keep adding bookshelves until someone in your family objects?
Tell me in the comments – I need ideas!
📣 Come hang out with me for daily bookish chats on Facebook or Instagram!
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