February's Antidote: Bookshelves

February’s Perfect Antidote: Bookshelves

The Roswell Current February 12, 2010

By: Laura Green Thome

The perfect way to spend time indoors combined with a ‘do it yourself project’ and well weather that is too cold to do anything other than drink hot tea and plan~Bookshelves!!!

I can’t tell you how often I spent hours arranging and rearranging bookshelves while working on projects, thinking… ‘I spent all those studio hours for this?’ Well, it has paid off and I now understand fully how great of an impact bookshelves and the arrangement of such has on a home or space. The simplistic nature of them provides ample backdrop to be a near perfect canvas to set the tone of your home. With the right built in you can seasonally or weekly, depending on your compulsion change the attitude of your space.


I was recently in Houston working on an installation and we were able to completely change the visual impact of the home by reconfiguring the built-in bookcases. Shown Below:

We used a well poised collection of artifacts, objects of art, journals, studies & books to pull together a simple and sophisticated space. Starting with grouping the collected objects according to color palette and size, we then grouped them in an asymmetrical arrangement to balance the room. Each artifact must be balanced by each sub sequential artifact, and book further balanced by another set of books or journals. I love introducing unusual pieces layered on top of a stack of horizontal books. The intrigue and forms made by layering the objects causes a certain amount of illusion causing your eye to be drawn to the niches created. It is almost as if each grouping becomes a vignette itself. While total time spent was almost five hours grouping and arranging bookshelves, the result was breathtaking. The client could not have been more pleased, saying that they would actually enjoy sitting & entertaining in the room now that things seemed so much more inviting and pleasant.



So make a list, look at your bookshelves and built in millwork and get to work this weekend! You will need to first take everything down off the shelves, then dust while you are at it of course! Then group all books and journals according to size and color, after grouping them you will want to start arranging the books in blocks, starting at the centerline first. Once you have established your symmetry or asymmetry, you may start introducing art or objects of art into the mix. You will soon start to get into a pattern resulting in a wonderful, well balanced and pleasing mix of your personal articles that seems to beg others and guests to get to know you better!~Enjoy the process and take your time! ~Laura