9 book storage ideas you’ll want to dog-ear now

Even a small space feels bigger when it’s full of books. You may be sitting on the sofa, but open a book and you’re instantly transported to another world. It’s like every paperback is a magic wardrobe waiting to take you to Narnia or a rabbit hole ready to draw you into Wonderland.

When we want to make our everyday home feel more infinite, the first thing we do is buy a new book. But after we finish the final chapter, we’re left with one problem: Where do we put it? A good book deserves a good home.

No matter how extensive your book collection is getting, there’s always a way to fit more of your favorite reads into your home. With these nine book storage ideas, you can make space for more books in every room in your house.

9 book storage ideas to fit more pages in your place

As bibliophiles, we work so we can buy more books. And we pay our mortgage or rent to give those books a good home. So you can bet we’re not parting with any of them. Luckily, with these book storage ideas, we never have to.

1. Install wall-to-wall bookcases

If you want to fit a lot of books into a small space, wall-to-wall bookcases will give you maximum storage. This idea transforms any room into a home library. It offers the illusion of built-ins without the high price tag or permanence. Plus, because your average bookcase is only 12–18 inches deep, you don’t have to sacrifice a lot of floor space.

To get the look, choose any room where you have a long, empty wall space. This style looks beautiful in a living room or den, but even a wide hallway will work.

Next, measure the length of the wall and look for bookcases that fill nearly the entire length when lined up side-by-side. For example, if your wall is 12 feet long, you can buy three matching 4-foot-wide bookcases (or four 3-foot-wide bookcases, or two 6-foot wide bookcases … you get the idea).

Choose a bookcase that has flat sides, like the Marshall 5-shelf Bookcase, to allow you to line them up flush against each other and look more like built-ins.

We love the Marshall bookcase for this because you can also get a version with a storage cabinet or you can mix and match the original and the storage cabinet versions for a more flexible storage solution. It’s the easiest DIY project you’ll ever do.

2. Surround your TV with books

As all book lovers know: The book is way better than the movie. Give yourself a friendly reminder every time you reach for the remote by turning your media storage unit into a book storage unit. (Hey, books are a form of media! The best form of media.)

Adding an entertainment center to your living room will help fit your TV and your book collection into a small space. Entertainment centers are framed with tall media towers, and a media tower is just a bookcase going by another name. (After all, a rose by any other name would smell as sweet — and in this case it will smell as sweet as freshly printed books.)

We like the Lewes 4-piece Entertainment Center to match transitional home decor, or the Angela 3-piece Entertainment Center for French Country decor.

3. Use ladder shelving

Ladder bookshelves are one of those interior design trends that transcend time. They’re decidedly modern, and yet, they take us back to when every library and bookstore had a ladder attached to its bookcases to help you reach the highest shelves.

A ladder bookcase can honor that antiquarian book culture without clashing with your modern decor. We like the Colella 3-piece Storage Ladder Bookcase Set with two storage drawers for organizing knick-knacks.

Of course, if reading your favorite books inspires you to do a little writing (even if it’s just an email), the Pinckard 3-piece Ladder Desk Set combines your storage space and your workspace.

To organize your ladder bookcase, store your heaviest tomes on the wider shelves down below. Then place your smaller paperbacks on the thin top shelves.

4. Make it part of your home office

A home office is the ideal place to store books. You’ll need more decor than a desk to fill the room and adding a matching bookcase can make it feel cozy. (Add a pair of sweatpants and you’ll have the coziest work-from-home set up yet.)

Bookcases in your home office also allow you to keep reference books close by or set up a reading nook to make the space more useful when your work is done for the day. We like the Analiese 2-piece 3-drawer Writing Desk Set for industrial-style spaces. And for light and bright contemporary office spaces, we like to pair the Dylan Rectangular 8-shelf Bookcase with the Dylan 4-drawer Lift Top Office Desk.

But even if your home office is more like a tiny corner in your living room, you can still use your desk as a book storage solution. The Alice Writing Desk With Open Shelves offers plenty of space to store books on the sides of the desk. And the Yvette L-shape Office Desk has a small bookcase coming out of one side, creating an L-shape that fits perfectly in corners.

5. Turn your nightstand into a bookcase

If you usually read before bed, then this bedside book storage idea will elevate your nighttime routine. A small nightstand can hold a surprising number of novels, so whether you like to curl up with a romance or a mystery, you can keep your collection close by.

The Durango 2-drawer Nightstand features an open shelf in the center. Add a couple bookends to keep your books from falling off the ledge or stack your collection so the book spines are horizontal instead of vertical. (Or if you love a mystery, try this bookshelf idea: have your books’ spines face inward so all you see are the white pages to match your neutral decor.)

For more glamorous bedside book storage, the Coquette 1-drawer Rectangular Accent Table has a shiny mirror finish and a fully-framed bottom shelf that allows you to organize your books without any bookends.

6. Choose a bed with book storage

If you want to snuggle up even closer to your books, look for bed storage. Beds with bookshelves built into the headboard allow you to keep your favorite bedtime stories nearby.

This is a great option for a kids’ room. You can create a library of your favorite children’s books, and have their bed do double-duty as a reading nook.

The Wrangle Hill Twin Storage Daybed has five shelves to provide plenty of book storage. Or you can opt for the Anika 3-shelf Wood Twin Loft Bed. The book shelves are below the high bed and the rest of the space underneath will make the perfect reading nook.

And in case you think we forgot about the grown-ups, the Jessica Queen Bed With Storage Headboard has three bookshelves to keep your nighttime reading nearby.

7. Start a book cart

A mobile library? Yes, please! If you want to have your books with you everywhere you go, a book cart can follow you from room to room. You can read Jane Austen on the sofa or Charles Dickens in the dining room.

A cart stocked with kids’ books is a clever way to create a reading station in your playroom. You can always roll it out of the way to create more floor space when it’s time for fun and games.

We like the Cara Rectangular Glass Bar Cart or the Curltis Serving Cart With Glass Shelves because both have railings to prevent your books from falling off the ledges.

8. Keep coffee table books in your coffee table

If you have too many coffee table books to pick just one, a coffee table with built-in book storage allows you to display them all. It will add extra cozy, hygge decor to your living room (you can even display “The Little Book of Hygge”) and encourage you to curl up with your favorite author at the end of the day.

The Welsh 1-drawer Rectangular Engineered Wood Coffee Table With Storage Shelf provides ample space for organizing your books, and because the shelf is fully enclosed, you won’t even need bookends. For a modern living room, try the Airell Rectangular Coffee Table With Glass Shelf. The white and glass finish keeps your space feeling light and bright.

9. Carve out space in the kitchen

There are bookworms and then there are cookbook worms. If your cookbook collection is as packed as your pantry, then you need to whip up a storage solution that keeps your recipes where you want them — in the kitchen.

The Slater 2-drawer Kitchen Island With Drop Leaves has four thin shelves — two on each side — that you can use as spice racks or to display books and cooking magazines.

You can also display cookbooks on a server or hutch with open shelves, like the Phelps 2-door Rectangular Server. This traditional style server has three open shelves, so you can organize your cookbooks by genre (baking versus cooking versus grilling, for instance) or by the type of cuisine. You’ll end up with a well-organized culinary library.

Store all your favorite stories

If you’re a book lover, then you know books are beautiful, inside and out. Making space for them in every room in your house will not only allow you to collect more books, it will also add style to your home. Books are one of the most beautiful and interesting objects you can display on open shelves.

To discover more ways to incorporate books into your space, check out our dos and don’ts of decorating your shelves, or get more storage furniture ideas for the living room, bedroom, entryway, and kitchen.

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