The Porch Swing Chronicles: Beauty and the Books

Last weekend, we visited my daughter and helped her relocate an entertainment center from the home of a co-worker into her living room. We outsourced the actual moving part, which meant our job responsibilities were primarily set-up and organization of the new piece of furniture upon its arrival.

As part of the organization, I got to place her books, a job I love doing. When we were finished, the shelves looked lovely (if I do say so myself), with an underlying organizational system that will allow her to quickly put her hands on whatever book she's looking for.

Organizing and books. Very few pairings that make my heart sing quite so vociferously.

Over the weekend, I finally made time to tackle the bookshelf in our mudroom. I've been clipping pictures of pretty book cases featuring tidy shelves with an artistic co-mingling of books and decorative items, and I wondered if I could pare back my collection (or re-configure it, at least) to accomplish some version of the same thing.

Meanwhile, in preparation for this task, I've been working on taming my book-buying habit by getting ebooks whenever possible (cheaper, no shelf space needed) and borrowing single-read books, like novels, from the library. I've gotten a bit more ruthless about donating books that I might read, keeping only the ones that truly interest me. Since I donate to the library, I figure that chances are good that I'll be able to check out my own copy of the book should I someday regret giving it away.

When I was finished, I had a small pile of books to give away and a few little niches where I could display a favorite photo or memento. In addition, I'd pressed a small, decorative suitcase into service, storing one category of books inside it (and, to be honest, a handful of books behind it) to make the bottom shelf look a little fancier. I relocated a file bin, freeing up some bonus space and improving the overall look even more. My shelves didn't look like the ones in the magazines, but they looked a lot better than they had at the outset.

As I agonized over which books to keep and which to get rid of, I realized that some of the books had been taking up space for a long time, and yet I hadn't cracked them open. My new spend-less-money-on-books (among other things) campaign was working, but library books have a due date; books I own do not.

So, I set a new goal for myself, one that would balance what I own with what I borrow. Each day, I'll spend ten minutes on a book I already own. A few of these sessions will be sufficient to let me know which books are keepers, and which are just taking up space, waiting to go in the donation bin.

That night, I spent close to an hour on one of the non-fiction books I'd "discovered," reading chapters out of order based on what looked interesting. I might (or might not) finish the book and I might or might not keep it, but the reading was pleasurable.

The next night, I read only material I needed for work. Oops.

But, since every new day presents a new opportunity (and I was at least 50 minutes ahead anyway), each day, I can pick up where I left off, or pick up a new book. The end goal is to keep my shelves filled with only books I love, minimizing clutter and making space for my new must-haves in the process.

Meanwhile, I love the new look of my shelves, and I have a new stack of donations for the library.

Win-win.