When I installed these floating bookshelves in my family room years ago, they were white. In fact, they are just simple shelves from IKEA. I have since given them a makeover with some reclaimed wood. Regardless of what the shelves look like, the problem remains the same. How could I keep the books on each end from falling over? I didn't want the bookends to show. I needed to come up with a way to have invisible bookends. My solution is inexpensive and doesn't require you to glue, use power tools, or make any mess at all!
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Invisible Bookends
Floating shelves are beautiful! But the downside is, that unlike a bookshelf, there are no end caps or sides so the books will have a hard time from toppling over. So how do you keep your book collection from falling? This tip is a great way to prevent that!
I bought these simple metal bookends from Amazon. They come in a pair and are nice and heavy duty. They work for every book depth and have rounded edges so they don't damage your book.
Now even though they were simple and white, I didn't want to see the bookends so for every book that is the last book on the end of the shelf, I open the book and slide it onto the bookend. So the bookend is inside of my book like a bookmark.
The have a grippy material on the bottom to keep them from slipping which is great if your shelves have a smooth surface. It works best with having a hardback book on the end, but I have used this trick for paperback as well. After you slide the book on, place books next to it (on top of the bottom part of the bookend) and you are good to go! The l-shaped design makes them strong enough to keep heavy books upright. Wasn't that easy? And no books were harmed in the process.
I think learning this book stopper trick is a great excuse for you to go and buy more books :)
If you do want to use traditional bookends, that is awesome too. I have made some DIY projects where I made decorative bookends (wooden bookends, and even a concrete bookend). Making creative bookends would have been fun, but with this many shelves, I worried it would look too busy with decorative ones. I like the hidden bookends much better in this case.
Book Organization
Now I am curious always curious how other book lovers organize their books. In the past when my family room was more colorful, I organized them like a rainbow. My kids thought it was so much fun! I admit I had to buy a few random books at the thrift store so I could have more purple and orange. Would you ever sort your books by color or would that drive you crazy? Do you categorize them by title? By author? By category and then by author?
They system we have now, it there is a kid side and an adult side. Then I organize them by category. Since we don't have THAT many books on these particular shelves, I felt like going beyond that would be overkill. It is pretty easy to scan the books and find what you want.
These simple bookends are inexpensive, easy to use, and hold the weight of the books so they don't topple over. They work for all book dimensions and fit nicely inside the end book. They would also make the perfect gift for the book lover in your life!
What are your favorite books? I'd love to know what you are reading right now too! I'm always looking for new novels to read :)
Oh I do like your idea of slipping the bookend into the cover of the last book! I love the look of the color coding but would never be able to find the books I am looking for... so I organize by topic and sub-topic. :)
I like your bookends, and the way you tucked them into the last book. Cool effect. I can imagine myself looking for a book and remembering the color of the cover, in which case organizing by color would be a big help. but, I don't organize my books by color. I say, whatever floats your boat is the best way to organize. I like to organize by category, and leave it at that. I absolutely don't have the patience to organize alphabetically, but I do derive satisfaction out of organizing a collection of things, whether they're books or other objects. Whatever gives you a sublime sense of pleasure is the way to go. That's the difference between getting a job done, and putting it off forever.
I love the look of organizing by color but would never do it in my home. If I don't organize by category and then Author it would take me far too long to find anything. ADD kid organizes so she doesn't go crazy, but that's a personal thing.
That's one stylish bookshelf!
How on earth would you find a particular book?!?!? We have hundreds of books and they are sorted by author then title. Sorting by color would make me crazy! People who READ books, and not use them for display, would never sort them by COLOR!
These books get read a lot. And now that they are out of totes and on shelves I imagine they'll get read even more. One day when we are lucky enough to own even more books, I'll probably have to change how they are organized. But for now, this works for us.
I've been an avid reader since age four and I sort all my gardening books (hundreds, as I'm a book reviewer) by color. These are books I use quite often and while at first I had to think a bit where each book was, it took me no time at all to learn where they are. I can visualize each book and it's not hard to remember what color and size the book is, which makes it a snap to locate. It's actually the books that get used most often that are easiest to find. I prefer the look of like colors together because more time is spent in the room with that visual staring me in the face than I would ever spend looking for a book. But that's just me. :-)
I love this look!
My bookshelves are currently seeking big jumbled up mess. We are moving soon so I have just given up on organising this house... you do have my sold on this though - your shelves look lovely. I NEED to start sorting everything by colour. Rainbows everywhere!
Great idea!! Gonna have to try it. :)
Honestly, I think the books look ok, but I like mine categorized on the subject of the book, i.e. inspirational, history,mysteries. But that is me. I would find what i want faster, but I love the unvisable book ends. Sincerely, Judy
That is exactly what I do, too, Judy. And I also like the invisible book end idea, although my bookshelves have ends. I'll keep it in mind, however.
I use books as mini display areas. I stack several horizontally, against the vertical row, to hold the rows upright, as a bookend would do . I display small collectibles on the horizontal stack. I collect old, worn books from thrift stores, and use them a lot for display. Your colors are pretty, but I would not have enough to make it obvious. I like a more eclectic look.
Oh, I love it! Looks amazing! I like when there's lots of books in the room! they give a special mood to the whole house and you always have what to read)
I love your color coded library! I never would have thought to do this. I do color code my closet and I love Charming Charlie because they color code their store. My books are sorted not by author but by size. Thanks for sharing!
What a great idea! I initially thought you did something to the books themselves to make them strong enough to hold up the others but I like your idea much better. I have very few old, vintage books and I wouldn't want to destroy them either! Visiting from Creativity Unleashed party.
Oooh, I organize everything by color, so I LOVE This!! We have way too many books to do this with, but if we ever get rid of enough so I could fit them all on one wall (or in one room), then I am totally doing this!
Great idea to give the row of books support with those hidden bookends! I never thought to group books by color, but I really like the look. Thanks for linking up with Funtastic Friday!
I'm more than a little A/R ~ my books are alphabetized by Author, then by date of publication. I like your idea for the invisible holders
What a neat idea! Looks great! Thanks for sharing #HomeMattersParty
Jeannee
Too many books to organise in this manner. I go by author than date of publication and/or series. We you have 1000's of books in fours rooms with shelves 3/4 of the way around the room, it's the only way. Love the idea of slipping the bookend inside a book. I am going to do this.