Pet peeve: "Empty" book shelves

nosoccermom

9 years ago

Transitional Living Room by New York Interior Designers & Decorators Cory Connor Designs

Eclectic Family Room by Los Angeles Interior Designers & Decorators Hillary Thomas Designs

Transitional Kids by New York Interior Designers & Decorators Caroline Beaupere Design

Transitional Family Room by Scarsdale Interior Designers & Decorators The Elegant Abode Interior Design

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (40)

gsciencechick
9 years ago
Not sure what you mean. Like the first pic.

Our bookshelves are just as jam-packed unfortunately. Those are not empty by any means.
User
9 years ago
The last pic features modern day (what used to be called) curio cabinets. They weren't purchased for books because the homeowners probably don't have any. The others....varying degrees, except the first. Love the color scheme n the first picture, and all the books.

Do not like the silver leaf ceiling in the second picture, and generally don't care for that "oh, we just threw a little of every expensive thing we could find into the room" style.
Related Discussions
September Conversation Thread: Your Pet Peeve
Q
Comments (42)
I keep a lot of notes. I started out just putting everything into one big document but it made it so big and disorganized that I finally just started keeping separate ones. Just named them simply, "Gourds", "Garlic", "Tomatoes", "Peppers", etc so I can find them quickly. I never print them out cause then I lose them! Or they get wet and the ink runs. I have found that some things grow better in containers, some grow better at ground level and some grow better in raised beds. And all that probably depends on the type of soil a person has. Mine is black gumbo clay. Beth, I'm proud of you for having the resolve to get off government assistance. I deplore the way the program is run. I would so love to see them add classes for the people on their programs. Many of them don't even know how to cook so they're spending those food stamps on expensive convenience foods instead of, say, buying a whole chicken. I get three good meals out of one whole chicken. When I'm done with it, there's nothing left but some soft bones and a little limp skin, which I bury out in the garden and then put something on top of it so the dog can't dig it up. But anyway, education is the key, to my mind, and you are wise to be trying to learn to garden. Even if a person can only grow something in a pot, they gain knowledge from the experience. There was a man selling corn out of his truck in a parking lot near here over the weekend. He was getting $7 a dozen for his ears of corn and they weren't real big. And he had a few black diamond watermelon but he wouldn't sell them because he said the ones he had sold had come back because they weren't ripe yet. He was selling them for $10 each. He'll probably be back next weekend with ripe ones, if all this rain doesn't split and ruin them all. Think of all the corn you could grow for $7, and all the watermelon you could grow for $10. Even if the rain did split the melons, if you got out there right away, brught them in and processed them, you'd still get good value. You can save seed from grocery store vegetables. Sometimes they'll be hybrids so they won't grow exactly like what you bought, but they'll grow something. I've gotten some wonderful cantaloupe by having the seed in the compost bin germinate. And I planted grocery store Arkansas tomatoes this year. They made beautiful round tomatoes but the flavor wasn't nearly as good as George's Baker Family Heirlooms. Sometimes I check out the marked down produce just for the seed that I might get. Last year I grew spaghetti squash from the seed of a grocery store purchase.
...See More
Magazine Layout Pet Peeves...
Q
Comments (45)
peegee - it's so funny you mention that. I was going to mention the very same thing on this thread, but then I thought, well, it's probably not true in upscale suburbs, so I won't mention it. (Although I believe I have mentioned this very thing on another thread here.) We're not selling for another couple years or so, but I sort of obsessively pore over the real estate listings so I can get a sense of what's out there, and what things are selling for. So many of the photos are HORRIBLE. My own next door neighbor's house has mostly pink walls with darker pink trim, with a turquoise bedroom. There is a hideous 1980s style shiny brass and glass ceiling light fixture (in a house built in 2002.) This is not in Florida, though the owner is older... this is in rural NH. All of the windows are covered in heavy maroon drapes. Every photo shows clothes over unmade beds, grocery bags and tools on the kitchen counters... I will seriously never use the real estate agent who is selling that house... why he decided to put those photos up online, rather than getting better photos, is beyond me. But anyway, these ugly interiors are pretty much the norm, with any rare "nice" one really standing out. I'm in an area with large lots (5-10 acres, with a few that are smaller and some that are much bigger) and it's a hodgepodge of houses... old farm houses, restored mansions, new colonials and capes, mobile homes, old capes, old-ish little square one-story houses, etc.. There is no "standard" look. I am relieved by all this because 1.) I don't need to stress over my house looking "perfect," but 2.) when we do sell, I think I can pretty easily set my house apart by having fairly neutral wall colors, minimizing clutter, and putting some stuff in storage. I don't need to go wild with staging, but a little should go a long way. I have been worried, though, that a whole generation of buyers expects their houses to look just like HGTV houses. But, if that's what they expect, that's not what they're getting around here, so I can breathe easy... my house already looks a million times better than many of the houses I see for sale in my area.
...See More
'Sealed for your protection'- HA! Pet peeve- what's yours?
Q
Comments (33)
Joyful, I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and hope you were just kidding with that post about yelling at an employee. *Totally* off base! You've been listening to that stupid mantra "the customer is always right" just a little too long methinks. If you were serious, then let's have us a discussion cuz you just hit on a pet peeve of mine! LOL I'm proud to say I've intervened on more than one occasion when someone has been screaming at an employee who is not responsible for the problem. I've also gone to bat for employees put in that position. And I've also had my share of people taking their hostilities out on me because they can't balance a checkbook, read a sign or a variety of other excuses for the problem. When the employee does something wrong, they should be held accountable but that should be by their employer. Although your purchases contribute to paying their wages, you are not their employer and reprimanding them isn't your privilege. You made an excellent point: Complaining only really helps if you do it in places where it can have some effect. Well said. So well, in fact that one bears restatement: Complaining only really helps if you do it in places where it can have some effect. So go to the manufacturer instead of a guy trying to earn a living. Or better yet, how about people taking some personal responsibility? Go ahead and return it if you want. Good suggestion. That's not a problem. But why in the world would you keep buying it then if it's so bad? I've said (essentially) this in another thread tonight but bears repeating here: If you don't buy it, they won't sell it, get it? If you buy it over and over, you're telling them you like it. Basic rules of retail. Dollars are data and communicate well. And BTW, I'll lay you odds if you ask the cashier nicely to open it for you, most (if not all) of the time I'm sure they will. Most will have a box cutter on them or near them or have the dexterity to pop it open. And for that matter you can stand there and yell too - they'll probably still open it for you! And have a good laugh in the breakroom telling the others about you! :D I don't like a lot of these packages, but I'm pragmatic. There IS a reason for them.
...See More
Pet Peeve
Q
Comments (42)
Martha Stewart uses fresh eggs from her farm (she brags about the different shell colors -so "pretty"- and quality all the time), and for those of us who grew up doing the same thing, or use fresh farm eggs now, we check the eggs by cracking them into a separate container because there are many possible anomalies, especially if they are fertilized, since they generally aren't candled. I've seen Martha go ahead and add an egg with a blood spot and most people probably wouldn't use it, or might remove it and use the rest of the egg. I even smell a farm-fresh egg I've cracked into a cup because you never know what farm chickens have been eating and it can affect the egg flavor, as well as what you are adding it to. My mom always candled eggs she gave or sold to other people. That was her job on her family farm in Canada when she was growing up. Even using a double-yolk egg could alter a recipe if you went ahead and used it. As to plllog asking about my food judging experience.... We are trained to judge a long list of food characteristics for each type of food judged, and follow a set of fair-judging standards. The flavor is actually a combination of taste and smell. I don't get picky about the vanilla flavoring (real or imitation), unless it's over-powering and too much has been used. But I will judge down for using poor quality eggs, fats and oils that are a little "off" or rancid, getting a bitter taste from using too much baking powder, or rancid nuts, and the flavoring not being well-blended throughout the food item. On a personal note, I've used Cook's Pure Vanilla Powder with success (especially good when making my own dry mixes and "convenience" foods). Recently I've been trying a bag of Terrasoul Raw Organic Vanilla Bean Powder, which includes trace minerals, potassium and magnesium, and is completely different from the Cook's product. The Terrasoul product is twice as flavorful as an extract since it doesn't evaporate, so you use half as much. And I also have Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Bean Paste. I've also made homemade vanilla with vanilla beans and alcohol-of-choice. Always looking for the next big "secret" ingredient. ;-) -Grainlady
...See More
patty_cakes
9 years ago
NSmom, I don't see any of them as being particularity bare. Is your point they're *not*supposed to be? Although they are bookshelves, they can be used for collections as well as books.

Like all things in decorating, it's personal.
nosoccermom
Original Author
9 years ago
OK, I tried to post one, in my eyes, "proper" bookshelf, that is full of books, followed by an "empty" bookshelf or rather underutilized with books a decorative items. Then followed by a second set: Bookshelves with books, empty book shelf. Now KSWL says that my last example isn't even bookshelves but curio shelf.

I agree that people can do whatever they want with bookshelves. Just my personal preference is to use them for books, lots of them.

My pet peeve is books as decorative items and rows of bookshelves without book. I understand if you happen to move into a house and don't own books (although that's another story). However, people who install (book)shelves and then just have to find items to put into their empty shelves is kinda weird.

I just believe in function over form..... But it doesn't keep me up at night :)
User
9 years ago
We have a bookcase that is more collections than books. We purchased it when we actually bought books, but you don't need to nowadays. As a matter of fact, I have a gift card that's about four years old and have no idea what to buy with it. I read on my Nexus and find better recipes, gardening and travel info, etc. online.
User
9 years ago
Perhaps if you just thought of them as "shelves" and not "bookshelves" you'd be happier? ;-)

I prefer a mixture of books and objects.
sjhockeyfan325
9 years ago
Funny, because I thought that first picture was irkingly jam-packed with books! Curios and a spot for my Kindle are all I need.
debrak2008
9 years ago
Interesting. I like the first one with all the books. All the others seem too cluttered. Too much going on.

I tend to think of book cases as shelves but either want all books or just a few decor items. Not a jumble.
MarinaGal
9 years ago
I like books, I like objects, but I don't like is shelves full of items (books or otherwise) that seem to have been purchased to fill space. I like to see items that seem personal and carefully selected/collected.

We moved into a house with lots of built-in bookshelves but don't have the books to fill all of them. I own a large number of books, but rarely add new ones b/c I now read on line or borrow from the library. It's an interesting time we're in where the printed book is going to become less and less common.
Deeby
9 years ago
Before the internet I was an avid reader, always at the library and bookstores. I don't have any bookcases and don't want them. In earthquake country they're dangerous anyway.
hoovb zone 9 sunset 23
9 years ago
There was a story on CBS Sunday Morning this morning about someone that makes custom covers for books, and they form a picture like a mural, or co-ordinate colors with the room, or function as the color in the room. Some people had the books they really love done up like that, others had any old book they didn't care about done up like that. Kind of an interesting idea. I would like it for books I loved, but not for a bunch of books I would never look in.

Here is a link that might be useful: pictorial covers
User
9 years ago
The shelves in the last picture have strange spacing and even on my BIG monitor I don't see any holes for adjusting their height. That's why the pieces look more like display units than bookshelves per se. But as always, it's just one opinion. Generally speaking I think the best decoration for bookshelves is books.

I have a friend who did exactly what ncsoccer describes---they had "bookshelves" built into their living room and then had no books to put on them........ I think she ended up using them for a collection of Snowbabies :-(
vedazu
9 years ago
It is a matter of visual neatness, I suppose. I like the first one because everything is in order and tidy. The one in the children's room looks okay as bookshelves and storage area.

My "yikes" is the navy color--I was just planning to re-do my living room in a dark blue--and I'm hitting a trend! mama mia!
robo (z6a)
9 years ago
I think the last pic is hemnes bookshelves from ikea in grey brown. Hemnes are aweeeeesssssome for the price (and the holes are fairly hidden).
oldbat2be
9 years ago
Right on target for me:) I have the first picture saved and have been planning lots of books for the new built-ins in the family room..... but then again I do appreciate the feedback regarding mixing books with decorative items. The only leather bound (truly decorating worthy) books I have are a wonderful set my father gave my mother some 40 years ago of Margery Allingham's Campion series.

Currently, my hardcovers (only ones I like, I promise!) are overflowing current storage. I was just measuring the other day, planning for the new built-ins, thinking: hmm. 26 inches here x 3 shelves and 28 inches there x 3 shelves = not that much additional storage.....

Put me in the first room and the first thing I would do would be to walk up to the bookcase and start browsing :)
Oakley
9 years ago
The last pic features modern day (what used to be called) curio cabinets. They weren't purchased for books because the homeowners probably don't have any.

You were joking, right? That's quite the assumption to make. We used to have two shelving units just like the one in the last picture, and in another room were wall to wall books. Now we have built-in's and books in storage.

BTW, those shelving units were never meant to be curio cabinets (they still make cc's), they were made to be used for electronics. Tv's, DVR's, etc.

I'm getting ready to take about a third of my books out of the built-in's and replace them with decorative items. :)
pps7
9 years ago
I like the first 3 pictures. We have built in floor to ceiling bookcases in our library. We are both book lovers but just don't have enough books to fill them all up. I'm am sure over a lifetime, we will accumulate them. I don't buy books just for the sake of filling shelves, so it will take time.
Holly- Kay
9 years ago
My library bookshelves are jam packed and this is after weeding out novels etc that I would never read again. It is also houses a mixture of family pictures, an antique clock that I have had forever, my beloved DGF's fishing creel and many more family relics. It will never make a home decorating magazine because it is more cluttered and messy than I would like but we are constantly pulling books out and they don't always make it back to their original spot. What you don't see in the picture is a full bookshelf unit on both ends.

I haven't added to the jumble in years as all my reading is done on either my iPads or Kindle and I sure as heck don't need anymore clutter. I also have books in every room in my house with the exception of the bathrooms. My home office also has a tall bookcase filled with books.
4boys2
9 years ago
Robo~ You're right about the Hemnes..They look great in that photo.

I think that once the "bookcase" has a depth of 12" or more it becomes a display shelf.
Display away....
zeebee
9 years ago
My bookshelves look like Picture #1 out of sheer necessity; more books than shelf space in this house. I actually love the mixing of books with curios, photos and collections; it looks warmer and more personal to me than having books on a shelf and curios on the mantle or a side table. (The room in Picture #2 is awesome, BTW).
peony4
9 years ago
I work in a profession that requires I have reference books on hand. Except for these, and some books I maintain for sentimental reasons, I don't keep books just to fill my shelves. For pleasure, I read a book once, and knowing I'll likely never read it a second time, I pass it on to a friend or donate. Most likely, it's a library book that I return. I love going to the library, and our local library is my peaceful haven.

Franky, I've never understood why people have mass collections of books, just to "have books" on a bookshelf, unless, of course, you actually read them.

If one has a bookshelf that doesn't have books on it, it's just repurposing it for other items. What's so offensive about that? Like the nightstand thread where furniture that was originally built for one purpose is now being used as nightstands. Why is the idea of a bookshelf that contains beloved collectibles or family portraits such blasphemy?
sjhockeyfan325
9 years ago
Booklovers on this thread will love something I saw yesterday in Berkeley (I wish I had taken a picture). On a street corner, there was a large cart filled to the brim with books, and on it a sign "Make a donation. Take home some books".
martinca_gw sunset zone 24
9 years ago
I am another book lover, and yes, I also love to decorate with them, and yep, bought books solely to fill the upper shelves needing a tall ladder to reach. I chose them for their look. I have leather bound books I have read, will read, or , ahem, think about reading.( Plato). :>/
My pet peeve is large bookcases filled with knick knacks. And number 2 is a jumbled mess, imo.
martinca_gw sunset zone 24
9 years ago
As soon as the new Kindle Paper White comes out, I will cave in to cyber books. However, if it's a book I love, I will buy it for my " library" . Can't imagine not taking a loved book down from the shelf, a book of poems, etc.
I like to include some " things" too, but keep filling it with mostly books.
annkh_nd
9 years ago
My parents built a house in 1977 with lots of built-in bookcases. Mom just sold the house, and the new owner has thousands of books. He was definitely excited about the bookcases!
nosoccermom
Original Author
9 years ago
I'm a dinosaur, so even though I read on a Kindle in bed, I still like to hold a book in my hand. Actually find it easier to find pages. Also since I have the Kindle, I realize that I really need to look at a cover page, table of content, etc.

My favorite is picture 1. Love it, including the dark navy.
Picture 2, while looking very nice "bothers" me because to me it looks the books are used for decoration purposes, like stacking them with a ceramic figurine on top, etc. Too styled, but again, I love the color.
desertsteph
9 years ago
my bookshelves would look more like #1. right now I have more bks than shelves. More shelves will go in after I get some flooring down.

I have 2 curio cabs but don't mind putting a treasure or 2 on a bkshelf if I need to.

I don't read as much as I did in my younger days but have bks. Am weeding out tho, novels to GW. I won't read or reread them. The kid books will be shipped to my gkids. A few treasures (bks) will be sent to my kids. like son #3's bible from age 7. I think he should have that.
User
9 years ago
Sjockeyfan, I love that!!

Peony, from my point of view there is a difference between using books purely as decor and filling in shelves of books with a well-placed decorative accessory. Artfully stacking books sideways or using them as stands for figurines, etc.....I don't know, it just seems wrong to me. But I am a bookly curmudgeon and admit it freely.

Our library shelves are filled with an astonishing array of books ranging from my father's old economics books to paperback science fiction novels and everything in between. I don't buy expensive leather bound books to look good --- although those look beautiful, martinca!--- because I don't really care how they look. The paperbacks are just as precious to me as a gorgeous coffee table size book of photographs of the Second World War, because it is the content that makes them valuable, not the cover. Not a few visitors have been taken aback when they realize that well loved raggedy paperbacks, not leather bound volumes of Shakespeare or history, have pride of place on the lowest shelf. ;-)
martinca_gw sunset zone 24
9 years ago
Hey, kswl, l'll bet I can out shabby your books! The leathers are gifts from my kids. Here's how most of the shelves look , but with even more paperbacks. :) m.
peony4
9 years ago
You all will love this blogger's recent post about her new bookshelves.

Here is a link that might be useful: bookshelves
User
9 years ago
Lol, martinca..... but do you have any that have been dropped in the bathtub and then dried out ?

I'm glad to see that other people value paperbacks!
sjhockeyfan325
9 years ago
but do you have any that have been dropped in the bathtub and then dried out ?

I did (well, the swimming pool), but it was called "The Truck Book", and it really wasn't mine, it belonged to my then 2-year old son (who's going on 30, and about to become a father himself). He loved that book so much, we bought 3. And yes, he still loves 'actual books'.
violetwest
9 years ago
I wish I had bookshelves. My books are all in plastic boxes--about 30 of them. I meant to sell them, or do something with them, and still need to. I love to see books on shelves.

MY pet peeve is bookshelves filled with books which are just for show and which have obviously never been read and never will be.
nosoccermom
Original Author
9 years ago
Or even better, books were the pages are glued together.
I committed a huge faux pas when I commented on someone's books in a foreign language, only to learn that nobody, speaks or reads that language in the household, and there was no particular reason to have these books other than for their impressive spines.

Oh, and one more reason to still hold on to paperbacks. Unlike a Kindle, you can read them in the bath tub.
User
9 years ago
Lol, sjhockeyfan and nosoccermom!

I like to take books in the bath and in the swim spa and I have a waterproof cover for my kindle....around here, pragmatism is one of the highest virtues Ã¢ÂÂºÃ¯Â¸Â
nosoccermom
Original Author
9 years ago
I'm scared of dropping my Kindle. How waterproof is that cover? Probably not completely, right?
violetwest
9 years ago
"swim spa" (oh, envy!)
User
9 years ago
It's really waterproof, nosoccer. I have dropped it more than once. DH bought it for me when he noticed I was reading in water with the kindle. It has two heavy duty Ziploc type seals, one inner and one outer. I guess if you held it under water for any length of time it would eventually get wet, but if sealed properly the casual fall won't harm the kindle or ipad at all.

Violet, it is the kind of long 15' spa that has jets at one end for swimming in place. DH wanted a regular pool, which I vetoed because we did not have the right space for one big enough for laps. This was a good compromise; I swim and he enjoys the other end while watching movies outside!
zeebee
9 years ago
Or even better, books were the pages are glued together. - nosoccermom

Oh yeah! Years ago Spouse and I stayed at the only hotel in a small market town in East Anglia in England. The ground floor of the hotel had a combination dining room-parlor-pub-lounge area, part of which had built-in bookcases filled with old leather bound books, the kind with fancy gilt on the spines. Being a huge reader and book lover, I was sipping my pint while scanning the shelves, and saw a book I wanted to examine further. When I removed it from the shelf, it was more like 2/3 of a book. The shelves were extremely shallow, so the hotel proprietors had cut down the books to fit the shelves! And by "cut down" I mean sawed off!
nosoccermom
Original Author
9 years ago
LOL. New meaning for short story :)