My husband loves books...like LOVES books.  And I am about to sound like I don't...but I do.  One day I would love nothing more than to have a room full of built-in bookshelves and have them covered from floor to ceiling with stacks of books.  A home library is the height of charming to me.

So when we moved from the Snuggery (our Capitol Hill rental) into our new rental there were some big design decisions that had to be made about what the hell to do with the 1000 boxes of books in our storage unit.

We had some cute built-ins at the Snuggery...

So, after doing some research, we decided to take our old Ikea Billy Bookshelves and add trim to them to give the impression they were built-ins.  With inspiration from Jenny Komenda, we got to work.

And we left with these faux built-ins.

They take up the entire living room but I LOVE THEM.  More than anything, they provide us with a ton of storage which is needed for the books and Grayson's toys. 

At first, they were styled much more sparsely.  But as the family and the book collection grew, so did these bookshelves.

Here is what you need to know about me.  I absolutely hate book jackets.  HATE them. So, in the era of ultimate Harvie compromise, Bruiserman got his bookshelves if the spines were naked. (He made me save them, however, and they are in a box in our attic). I know it is weird but to me the beauty of a book is the cover and those jackets just get in the way. And, I have to tell you, this was probably the biggest compromise he has made in our marriage for me so far.

My living room is incredibly small and I knew this bookshelf would be the focal point of the room.  As I mentioned in the post on the art ledge, I had to bring some color into this drably painted and carpeted room.

I really love the statement the colors make. 

When we lived in our old apartment with the built ins, I tried to turn the spines to the wall, showing only the pages from the bookshelf.  Let me tell yall something...my husband is a patient soul but that was dead on arrival.

Love before design, amirite?

Here are some images of other dreamy bookshelves that I have bookmarked for future projects.

How do you like bookshelves arranged? By color?  By height? All mixed up? Books turned backward so you can only see the pages? Do you like them overcrowded or sparse?