A BookMap, you say?

I should start by admitting to being fairly anal. I love to have things organized and in their proper places. It’s not so much a neatness thing, more that I truly can’t stand wasting time looking for something.

So take that proclivity, plus the number of books in our house and the accompanying look of fear in the babies’ and the BBE’s eyes as they pass through the towering stacks — add in my amazing BFF (who’s an interior decorator) and you’ve got a project. A Big Book Project. (Sorry — been looking through lots of old favorites the past few weeks, and hearing familiar word rhythms. So ‘a big book project’ just got overlaid by ‘a big dog party’ from Go Dog Go. “It’s a party! A big dog party! Big dogs little dogs…”. Sigh. I know, I’m strange).

The BFF came up with the perfect idea for our home. Books everywhere — books in every room (although that’s not the brilliant bit, as we already had books in every room). She had me organize the books by genre, and then came up with shelves for all the spaces. Clarity. That’s what was needed — and that’s what we’ve got.

Study: the bookcases that the BBE built for me when we were first married — and that we had to cut the tops off of when we moved into this house seventeen+ years ago (much higher ceilings in Hyde Park). So the right two are the home of Fiction — the left is miscellaneous Non-Fiction (poetry/gardening/bios).

Living Room: bookcases the BFF brought in from C&B — the left side is Art / the right is History.

Other side of Living Room: Horses (yes that’s right — ‘Horses’ is a genre in this house). I love these bookcases; they were my great-grandmothers. Inside (besides the equitation books I collected through the years) are my grandfather’s set of stud books from the 1920s and 30s — and his personal records from his own operation.

Family Room: Reference. The BFF found this very cool little tower, which is almost big enough for all our reference books (the drawers are also full). Apparently I need to do a little picture straightening — the three frames hold first-grade artwork from both of the babies and myself (I’m the one-eyed tiger you can’t see at the bottom).

Other side Family Room: Home books (personal/architecture/design/etc.)

And now up the stairs to the landing: this is a SERIOUSLY cute little bookshelf that I decoupaged with the paper covers off picture books. Once upon a time it held picture books, but now holds the babies’ school books.

Here’s another shot. The BFF had us mount it up off the ground. Me likey.

Other side of the landing: Picture books and early chapter books. I truly adore sitting and looking through them for hours — as do the babies. Lots of these were mine growing up. See all the Nancy Drews? Each week I had to decide whether to use my allowance on a Nancy Drew, or save it, as three allowances equaled one Breyer horse.

Upstairs Cubby: Religion.

My Studio: stuff I need in here (applicable art; quilting; computer graphics; stitching; and one small set of Jane Austen. Because I had to. These shelves used to hold all my Scenery/Costume Design books — plus History and Photography. But truly I wasn’t using them in here, and I couldn’t see to work. All the boxes hold different projects. Me likey lots.

And last but certainly not least: the books I’m currently reading or planning to read soon. Fiction on the left; various Non-Fiction on the right.

So that’s it.  The BookMap of my house — complete at last!  And I am SO HAPPY with it.  As are the BBE and the babies, who no longer fear being crused to death by piles of books.