AKMA’s Random Thoughts

One method I've used in the past, which scores high on the cheap and un-cumbersome (but utterly flunks the advanced)tests is milk crates. They stack well, even sideways, and are ready-made carrying containers.

We bought something called a 6 cube organizer. It's attractive, was not pricey, and is wall mountable. I've got roughly 100 books on it at the moment, including a few on the top.

It's manufactured by a company called Room Additions, but for the life of me I can't remember which store we bought it at. Perhaps Pier One, perhaps not. Requires a little assembly, but I would happily volunteer for that if needed.

I can always ask my wife where we bought it. She seems to remember these things better than I.

...as long as no one goes the "I've given up" route -- like I did a few years back -- and sends all of their books to the used book store in lieu of not finding adequate storage. Ugh.

Um...

Ikea. Really. Unfinished furniture that can be disassembled at the end of the school year and yet looks like booksehelves and not a construction site...though glass bricks and wood are quite attractive.

Wendy and I have gone the stackable crate shelves (they stack two high) that are quite cheap and since they are not glued together sawdust like many bookshelves, they don't sag in the middle (not sure why that bothers me so much but it does). They cost $20 CDN for one so I imagine they are quite a bit cheaper in the US.

We've been using black steel shelving from Lowe's and Target. It's modular, between $35 and $60, and holds up to 300 lb per shelf - it even works for Mister Boyfriend's LPs and heavy art books. We've ended up with them in every room of the house and can't say enough good things about them. http://www.lowes.com/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=60917-000080752-672763

I hear that the floor is very stable for books these days, and chairs provide excellent flat surfaces on which to stack more books. Additionally, books themselves can be used to make bookshelves for smaller books.

These, of course, are not particularly space-effective, although their frugality is unprecedented.

im in college and am using a very convienent and spacesaving (i think) revloving bookshelf, compliments of the bookstore i used to work at. built to hold DK 'eyewitness' books, it has tall enough slots to hold most books, but it doesnt have an extreme amount of space. also VERY heavy to carry, and might not be the easiest to come by. they happened to be throwing it out during my last week before i was heading back to school.

We store books in the bankers boxes one can get cheaply at office supply stores. A lot will fit in a small space, and you can stack the boxes at least three deep. The stack can be covered with a decorative piece of fabric. Two deep could be covered and used as an end table. (Of course this would be for books you didn't need to consult daily!)

I take consolation remembering that I'd read somewhere that Albert Schweitzer had his small room filled with books stacked in piles on the floor, with just aisles to walk through.

Ummm, Johanna, I hate to suggest that Albert Schweitzer and I have anything in common, but if you were to ask Jane, she’d groan and say the same thing about my office. . . .

I used to buy real cheap particle board bookshelves ($10) at Wal-Mart every fall. However, we had a set that literally shook themselves into sawdust during a 6.7 earthquake. (we also had flying books at that time). IKEA is great if you are anywhere near one - we bought lots of stuff there when we lived in CA, but now our choices are 6 hours to Montreal or even longer to Newark to shop IKEA. I have found some nice mission style folding bookshelves at Target - and the stuff labelled as 'media storage' (for CDs and VHS tapes) works really well for most paperbacks.

it's all about IKEA