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Aim High
For the look of custom built-ins at a fraction of the cost, opt for bookcases that climb as close to your ceiling as possible. This clean-lined set neatly fills its allotted space; a mix of glass-enclosed and open shelving keeps it interesting.
Let There Be Light
Quit fumbling in the dark for your favorite read with this luxury addition: classic brass picture lights. Installing these to the tops of your built-ins illuminate the contents of the shelves and adds color contrast to the rest of the room’s deep hues.
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Play Dress Up
Up the style quotient of a standard shelf by adding rich color or pattern to its interior. Here, cheery polka-dot adhesive shelf paper was applied to the inside of a thrifted bookcase, but you can achieve similar results with a little paint, scrap wallpaper, or fabric just as easily.
Add Architecture
Bored of plain white laminate bookcases? Transform a row of them into more of a refined old-world library. These DIY genius side-by-side units are unified with strips of flat molding, then finished with simple arches cut from MDF.
Trim it With Tape
For a super-fast way to add color and personality to utilitarian shelving, sticks strips of patterned washi tape to the shelf edges. Add a dab of white glue to keep it well-adhered.
Give it a Leg Up
Give a little bookcase a major lift by outfitting it with new legs! This piece used to be a nightstand with drawers, but was repurposed and raised to provide necessary storage for bedtime reads. Take a page out of the DIYer’s book by boosting charm with a coat of fresh paint in a cheery color.
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Contain the Clutter
Of course, a bookcase often holds much more than books. To keep papers, supplies, tools, toys, and any other clutter out of sight but still neatly at hand, pick up a set of attractive baskets in quiet shades.
Hide the Extras
To support a line of books with minimal fuss, try this fool-the-eye solution: Simply tuck your thin metal bookend between the sturdy cover and pages of whatever read caps a row in your collection. Or, craft bookends that fully blend in by removing all pages from an old hardcover and replacing them with a wooden block and thin metal bookend glued between the covers. When placed at the end of a row, it makes the books seems like they’re standing at attention all on their own.
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Chase the Rainbow
Flickr via seeminglee
A bookcase arranged by color reduces visual noise and turns even a crowded library into a work of art. If you don’t have a sharp visual memory, you may find it a little more difficult to locate specific titles, but the setup works especially well for favorite old tales you can’t part with—plus the eye-pleasing pay-off makes it all worthwhile.
Label with Love
To help a family library stay organized, consider sticking color-coded labels to the book spines. The colors brighten up the shelf and make it easy for kids to re-shelve their reads in the proper spot.