The Places You Will Go

booklicious: Sticky Shelving: Wall Decals

I've seen restaurants wallpapered to look like book-filled rooms. There's even a food court in Suntec City, Spore that is decorated with fake books. I don't get it. What's the point of books you can't read? A real bookcase filled with real books would be dustier but so much more attractive, in my opinion. However, I wouldn't mind book decals for mugs, files, and other surfaces.

On bookliciousblog.com:

Want to spice up your walls but can't paint or use nails (hello, fellow frustrated renters!)? Wall decals might just be your solution.

Typically made of vinyl, and available in virtually any design and color, these stick-on graphics can add an unexpected pop to an otherwise bland room. 

Check out a few mock-bookshelf wall decals after the jump.

A Pleasantly Surprising Discovery

I've been meaning to blog about this for some time.

The Dram Projects' library will be moving into Rumah Nur Salam's KL Youth Hub on Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman. This will signal the start of, I hope, a long and fruitful partnership between TDP and RNS.

Anyway, on one of my visits to the hub, I walked a few doors down to a food court housed in a row of shoplots. As I was having a cup of coffee, I noticed a couple of bookcases arranged against one wall of the food court. Yes, bookcases!

Of course, I just had to take a closer look. The shelves were full of old books and magazines. As you can see, the selection included classic murder mysteries and other interesting titles.

I wonder whose idea it was to put these books there and if anyone reads them. I will try to find out on my next visit.

Hello, This is Your Bookcase Speaking

What Does Your Bookcase Say About You? is the title of the Times article about Ikea's Billy bookcase and how the way we display our books speaks volumes about our personalities and lifestyles.

My bookcases (and book-covered surfaces) show that I am disorganised and have too many books (or is that too few bookcases?).

My bedside table (left, on my side of the bed) is where I keep books I'm currently reading, books on my soon-to-be-read list, books I want to read but it's really a case of wishful thinking, and some of Elesh's bedtime reads.

My dressing table stool (right) is piled high with picture books. I've given up organising my picture book collection. Or at least, I've postponed trying to organise my picture book collection. They just go anywhere now. But I SWEAR, I will sort them out before 2010. My other bedside table holds magazines and some more picture books.

Here are the bookcases in my bedroom (left). What a mess. These cases have mostly non-fiction like lit crit, theology, essays, food and fashion writing, and ballet. Also, poetry, graphic novels, reference books, like encyclopaedias, and yet more picture books.

These (right) are some of the bookcases in my living room. I have one unit in the front, and six in the back of the room. They hold my novels (including children's and YA), my travel books, biographies and, yes, picture books. The case with the glass front contains my out of print books and special favourites like the Moomin books and Antonia Forests.

I would love floor to ceiling bookcases and a sliding ladder to navigate the collection. However, I have to admit that even then I would probably end up with realy messy disorganised shelves.

Real Simple

I treated myself this morning to a copy of Real Simple magazine. I like this mag for its pretty pictures of pretty, neat homes although my own flat is not pretty or neat: I have pet spiders; my sofa needs a new slipcover; my bookshelves are sagging. Etc.

Actually, speaking of bookshelves, this post is about a feature (in the mag) that caught my eye: Book Smarts, a guide to organising your bookshelves. Yeah. Right.

This is the picture of a bookcase that is supposed to represent "lots of books". Are they kidding? Maybe for Real Simple's regular readers, this what "lots of books" means. Maybe, in order to have a pretty, neat, dust-free home, it's imperative to NOT have "lots of books" - lots of books, in my opinion, means you must have at least 500 books. And at least one shelf that sags.

Tips for those who supposedly have "lots of books":

1. Mix and match - This means you should arrange your books vertically and horizontally - to spark interest. I do this when there is space on a shelf (a very rare occurrence) - not to spark interest, but so that the horizontal stacks can act as bookends to the books that are placed vertically.
2. Add decorative items - Personal organiser, Meryl Starr, says she never places more than 30 books or so vertically without "breaking the line" with a pretty object. When I do this, it's so the "pretty object" can act as a bookend.
3. Don't overdo it - You're supposed to leave at least one quarter of each shelf free to give a sense of "airiness". Well, I know it's not a good idea to cram your books together as it puts stress on the binding, but I wish I had the luxury of leaving a quarter of each shelf free. All together now: "So many books, so little space!"
4. Illuminate your books - If you browse at night, it's a good idea to attach lights to the shelf. My eyesight's not so bad (yet) that I need to do this.
5. Treat your books well - Large volumes should be laid horizontally to protect their covers. "When vertical, large books need to be suppoted by books of equal size to prevent warping." Good advice but, once again, impossible to follow as I just don't have the space.

I was woken up at the crack of dawn the other morning by a loud crash. One of the shelves in my recently acquired red bookcase from Ikea had come crashing down! My fault: I'd overloaded it with picture books. My picture books are now on the lowest shelves of my bookcases. (The red shelf is rather beat up from its experience. The red foil is torn on the underside and is coming away from the chipboard.) It's now home to my Penguin 70s box-set, Griffin and Sabine trilogy, the Little Tim books by Edward Ardizzone and my Maurice Sendaks [right].

The View from My Bed

I bought three bookcases (left) from Ikea's "As Is" section, which is like a retirement home for their display units. The furniture there is scratched, bumped, dented, etc. Or missing parts - for example, one of the bookcases I bought is missing a shelf. That means it has a lot of space in the middle: perfect for my TV and hi-fi set!

The other two bookcases are Billys. They seem to be in perfect condition apart from the foil peeling slightly on one of the black unit's shelves

(I'm going to get one extra shelf each for the Billys.)

I saved over RM300 on these bookcases so I'm very pleased with them.

They are lined up against the wall opposite my bed which means when I have a nice view first thing in the morning! I have moved some of my books that were in bookcases in my dining room to the new shelves. All my favourite picture books are in my bedroom now. Also, my small graphic novel /comics collection; my children's encyclopaedias and reference books; my books on literary criticism, books about books and reading, compilations of essays and columns; my women's studies collection; my books on fashion; my ballet books; my Elizabeth Davids and other books about food; my notebooks (right), which I use for writing, collages, skteching or just to stick cool pictures in.

When I get the two extra shelves installed, I may move my poetry books to my bedroom too.