Sorting My Bookshelves - Tips for Organizing

Here is my imperfect process. I hope that it inspires you to tackle your shelves. ( + free printable 😉)

I stumbled across this project one summer when I was feeling some homeschool burnout. I just could not get myself to shift into planning mode! I was procrastinating… I had spent two weeks cleaning my whole house. I even sorted my pantry. Then I forced myself to sit down to do some school planning. After 15 minutes I found myself staring at the bookshelves.

I was inspired to do a full sort and declutter. After a few days of working on that project, my brain switched into planning mode automatically.

Suddenly the barriers that had been there were gone.

Through my “procrastination projects”, I had discovered the secret to getting back into school planning mode. Now it has become a yearly tradition and even something I look forward to. Sometimes it is in February, other times it is the summer.

Here is my imperfect process. The whole list can take me a week or more depending on life. (And that is okay.) I hope that it inspires you to tackle your shelves in a way that is unique to your home and your needs.

📲Check out my TikTok of my living room shelves.

How:

• Before the project, I begin pinning bookshelf organization ideas. I look on TikTok for inspiration or watch a few YouTube videos of home libraries. This gives me ideas to think about for a week or so.

• I take a “before” picture of the space in all its messy glory

  • (If I need extra motivation I post it on social media or send it to a friend asking for some accountability.)

• I gather empty boxes for donations and make space to sort the books.

• Emptying the shelves of all the books, I then sort, dust, and organize.

• My Declutter piles: keep, donate, put somewhere else, to use for schoolwork

• I decide how I want to organize the books in this space. Reading level, by author, by subject, by child… it often changes each year.

• This step often includes a trip to Ikea or Target for more magazine files or baskets to contain books in a different way. (or sometimes I buy another bookshelf)

• Putting them all back on the clean shelves.

• While it is all fresh in my mind I write out a TBR (To Be Read) list. I have created some free printables for you. Check out the link below. ⬇️

• Then I add in a few fake plants, tchotchkes, or decor items. (although I usually don’t have much space for those)

• Take my boxes of donations to drop off or to whom I am giving them to.

• I make a list of books I am missing from any series or ones that I think would be good to add to our collection.

• take an “after” picture of the library space🙂

• I give the kids a tour of how I have organized the bookshelf, so they can put them back correctly.

• And then I curl up with a good book, tea, and chocolate to celebrate completing that big project!

I also ask my kids, a week or so before I start my project, to sort their books and give me any books they don’t want to keep in their rooms.

Tip: This inspires them to read books they have forgotten about!

Have you ever noticed how kids play with toys after they are cleaned up and organized? The same is true with books. I do enjoy photos of dusty books crammed on shelves in old bookstores, but I do not feel that way about the shelves of my home! I find that overwhelming and a barrier to reading.

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

If you picked one shelf to declutter tomorrow afternoon which one would it be?

How can this idea help you in your home?

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As you sort your shelves it can be helpful to write out a TBR (To Be Read) list. I have created some free printables for you and your kids. ⬇️⬇️

Check it out in the PDF link below. Enjoy!!

📚📖📙Happy Reading & Shelf Sorting! – April

Make sure you check out the previous post!! 😉

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Photos by Dorka Kardos-Latif / Jon Tyson on Unsplash