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Post by Butterfly on Feb 2, 2010 9:29:45 GMT -5
I realized last night that part of my problem is that while I have a fair amount of space, I really don't have much storage. (I know, this seems so simple, what took me so long, huh?  ) For example, even though I have hundreds of books piled up everywhere, I don't own even one bookshelf! How crazy is that!!! No wonder they're all over the floor. What was I thinking?! Now, even though I've finally had this minor breakthrough, I don't know what to do about it. I am on a limited income and can't afford to buy nice bookcases. I spent a couple hours on the internet looking around and couldn't find good ones that might fit my budget. I don't really want particle board for several reasons. One, I've had those and thrown them away as they've fallen apart, two, they won't fit my decor and three, I'm not able to put them together. I am planning to get rid of a lot of my books, say 75%, but that will still leave quite a few that I don't want piled on the floor or in cardboard boxes. Maybe there's really not a good solution right now due to my financial situation. But I thought I'd throw this out there and see what others are doing about this specific problem. Also, I have, perhaps 8 - 10 large plastic bins worth of craft supplies (beads, fabric, scrapbooking, yarn and knitting supplies) and don't have a good place to store them, either. Anyone have any specific storage solutions? |
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Post by howardsgirlfriend on Feb 2, 2010 9:36:56 GMT -5
Go for whatever will allow you to get stuff sorted and off the floor for now. Even if it looks unattreactive, the organization will be worth it.
Maybe you can find a store that sells used office furniture, for shelves?
Stores that are going out of business often sell their fixtures. I just bought a couple of shelves for my cleaning/gardening supplies for $38 fro a video store.
Cinder blocks and sturdy boards make cheap, serviceable bookcases, while you keep your eyes out for something better. I learned that while I'm in the middle of decluttering, I need to have interim solutions such as this, until I'm able to ascertain my long-term needs.
For the bins, either shelves, or a large chest of drawers. Your can often find furniture at thrift stores and garage sales. I don't like using them for clothes or frequently-used items, but they're great for long-term storage.
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Post by carolinastomper on Feb 2, 2010 11:22:34 GMT -5
Something I did when I was financially unable to have bookcases, was use board and milk crates (I had mostly paperbacks, so shelves did not get very heavy). I started with cinderblocks for stablity, but since that was ugly I made it "fit"my decor by using fabric and hot glue. The bottom shelf I skirted by stapling fabric to the board and hot glueing pretty trim over the staples. For the next shelves, I only put fabric over the area where the milk cartons were, and put trim all the way across. This gave me the added advantage of storing things I did not want seen in the crates (by placing the open side of crate to the side of the shelves. It did still look homemade, but much better than bachelor dorm room decor bookcases.
I hope this makes sense, I did have some pictures but they were lost when I moved.
Carolinastomper
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Post by scribbles on Feb 2, 2010 14:53:02 GMT -5
What I'd do is weed through the books first, so you know how many books you will need to store. Then, if Craigslist is an option in your area, check there for bookcases. I've seen some solid wood bookcases going for $10 in my area. And check out the free section on Craiglist; currently in my area there are many metal shelving units and bookcases free for the taking.
As for the craft supplies, I'm eager to see what others suggest. I've got the craft supplies down to one box, but it's stuffed in the back of a closet. I need a better solution, as it is difficult to get to the box and hard to find things in the box.
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jennmommi
New Member
Joined: September 2009
Posts: 91
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Post by jennmommi on Feb 2, 2010 17:01:02 GMT -5
What about just buying wall shelves for your books, they are generally cheaper than bookcases, and you could find them to match your decor?
You could also try and find a local carpenter or handy person and have them custom make some that you could paint or stain to fit your decor. Like they do on the home improvement shows.
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Post by Evelyn on Feb 2, 2010 17:39:24 GMT -5
It might be possible to be too rich, and it is definitely possble to be too thin. But I remain entirely unconvinced that one can have too many bookshelves.  In addition to Craigslist, you might also take a look at FreeCycle. And I don't know if this resource is available to you, but I often get good pickings from the garages of relatives (and, to a slightly lesser extent, friends). Books can be "shelved" on top of dressers, desks, tables, sideboards, credenzas, almost any piece of furniure with a flat top (invest in a few pairs of those cheap metal bookends like scholls and libraries have, and hide them with volumes thick enough to stand on their own). Large books can be stacked up neatly; and if stable enough, the stacks can be used as an occaisional tables. Two sturdy stacks of coffee-table books, if they're of equal height, can substitute for the legs of your coffee table. A wall shelf installed about 16" below the ceilng and run all the way around the room can provide oodles of out-of-the-way storage for anything reasonably attractive-looking (and IMO beats a wallpaper border anyday of the week). Any wall shelf you plan to use for books should have a good sturdy bracket bolted into every stud. In re decor: yeah, cheapie bookshelves aren't so nice to look at - but they are easier on the eyes than lots of books piled & scattered around the floor. For your big plastic bins, I wonder if maybe you could stack them in a nook or a corner somewhere, and then hang a curtain or blind from the ceiling to hide them behind when you don't need to get at them. (Or just cover them with a nice-looking bedspread.) Stacking the bins in that spare empty closet in your crafts room would be the best option; but even if you do have a crafts room, almost nobody has a spare empty closet. |
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Post by Butterfly on Feb 2, 2010 18:15:53 GMT -5
Thank you everyone for your wonderful replies! Please keep 'em coming. |
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Post by lizzie on Feb 2, 2010 23:03:09 GMT -5
30 years ago I had a very mismatched bunch of bookcases, all colours and different 'wood' finishes, and levels of scruffiness, one day I just started painting them all a nice cream colour, it worked very well as this blended them all in together and they sort of blended into the wall colour also. Still have them! Being the same colour completely unified them.
I recommend you 'put the word out' that you are looking for bookcases, a surprising number of people have spare bookcases they don't use; like Evelyn I just can't understand it !!
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Post by fluffernut - now Jannie on Feb 3, 2010 8:56:19 GMT -5
Ikea sells very nice shelving and they deliver. If you can get a few bucks together, look at their catalog.
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Post by howardsgirlfriend on Feb 3, 2010 9:12:05 GMT -5
Whatever you choose to do, I suggest that you expect your needs to evolve over the next couple of years, and plan accordingly. Keeping this in mind has proved to be the most important principle when I'm choosing any storage solution.
For example, I prefer any storage that has doors, doesn't take up too much floor space, and/or could be used in another room, or especially my garage.
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Post by gifted on Feb 3, 2010 16:13:19 GMT -5
gigi.
If these things were obvious to us, then we would not be here, would we?
One big "breakthrough for me was that something I wanted, no matter how much I liked it, had to "belong somewhere" in my home. My home is still much too cluttered for things to have "homes." And I forget, and still bring home things just because I like them. But I am much better.
(But also, it is much less fun shopping, now that I know I will wind up stumbling over my goodies in a few days.
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Post by Butterfly on Feb 3, 2010 23:23:24 GMT -5
Thanks everyone! There's a lot of good advice here and I appreciate all of your responses!
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Post by marigold on Feb 4, 2010 9:00:47 GMT -5
Without reading other people's responses: check the Freecycle.org. Maybe there's someone in your area who got tired of their old (but pretty solid and nice enough looking) bookshelves and is giving them for free (because they have loads of money, got themselves new ones and just wanted to get rid of the old ones).
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Post by zen on Feb 4, 2010 13:10:45 GMT -5
I have a significant library - and thus some significant bookshelves - If I had it to do over again, I would get some of those cool Elfa shelves that Trish uses often on Clean House. They look really sharp and have a very airy feeling to them.
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Post by juniper2 on Feb 4, 2010 17:52:43 GMT -5
I believe stores still have produce delivered in wooden crates and will part with them for free. I actually pile the crates on top of each other in the living room, or use them as corner tables with a lamp on it even though i have bookcases. I place a table runner with lace on top...I still can't part with those orange crates een tho i do have bookcases... Hope you find a solution after you eliminate those books you don't want or need.  |
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