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Original poster

What books would you put in the front room?

129 replies

LadyIsabellaWrotham · 29/12/2022 17:55

We're reorganising our house and putting a bunch of shelves in one of the alcoves in the living room: about seven foot high by three foot wide, so a decent slug of space for books which have been left homeless by other elements of reorganisation.

Genuinely befuddled as to which books to put there, and I need to make a decision in order to decide how to space the shelves.

Which sort of books would you put there for the best aesthetic effect/efficiency?

A) Fiction authors A:G, in strict alphabetical and/or chronological order, including full-size hardbacks alongside the scruffy second hand paperbacks (so less space efficient)
B) Non-fiction hardbacks and trade paperbacks classed by general subject in a vaguely Dewey Decimal orientation (why yes, I did intern in a library, how did you guess)
C) Carefully collated high status novelists/poets/playwrights only: pre-1930, Nobel Laureates and Booker nominees preferred, in order to give a highly somewhat misleading view of our highbrow literary tastes
D) A few selected writers of whom we have a critical mass: starting with Georgette Heyer obviously.
E) Classic children's literature
F) Rainbow order by colour of spine (obviously this is a joke, I'm not a monster)
G) Other, all suggestions welcome
H) Declutter them all and buy a Kindle (this option included for the convenience of the Kondo-minded posters who always say this)

OP posts:
ChuggingtonMum · 29/12/2022 18:40

Classic children's literature for me.

A friend keeps his to read books in his sitting room, really annoying because I want to discuss them but he hasn't read them - on the next visit I have forgotten what they were and the cycle begins again.

Wilkolampshade · 29/12/2022 18:41

Great question OP, genuinely.Don't know why people are so twatty on here atm.
DH works in the art world so has A LOT of extremely pretentious looking catalogues and glam' hard back exhibition type publications which he regularly refers to or which visitors, (these are frequently his work colleagues discussing projects) might also refer to. So that lot is all in the knock through front room and takes up a bastard of a lot of room - 3 alcoves floor to ceiling. The remaining alcove's worth consists of bits and bobs we both like. Actually mainly him.

I can't read anymore because the menopause seems to have killed my ability to concentrate. So my few poor novels make up a small dusty unloved pile by my side of the bed.

Original poster
LadyIsabellaWrotham · 29/12/2022 18:43

TwitTwoodiniEscapeOwlogist · 29/12/2022 18:28

All the ones you are likely to go back to and dip into fairly frequently.

e.g. Poetry books, Art books. next few books that you have queued-up to read, books you refer to on subjects like witchcraft and the tarot (my list...I realise this might not feature heavily in your list😃), books for hobbies that you do, reference books you refer to moderately often (e.g. books for identifying wildflowers/birds/insects/trees). any fiction or non fiction books you are likely to actually go back to or dip into again (I'll re-read a random Sherlock Holmes short story every few weeks)

That way you have all the most referred to/handiest books in one place. (with the possible exception of cook books, which are probably better off in the kitchen)

I like that suggestion. I've got a lot of books stored on very high shelves, so keeping poetry, short stories and reference within reach is a good idea.
I could put the graphic novels there as well: frequently referred to and decorative.

The TBR shelf lives in my bedroom.

OP posts:

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Books Home improvement
AdelaideRo · 29/12/2022 18:47

I've pretty much kondo'd all my fiction onto kindle.

Therefore the books in my living room are almost all reference books except from a few much treasured novels (many of which are children's books I had as a kid and can't bear to part with).

Original poster
LadyIsabellaWrotham · 29/12/2022 18:47

SpacePotato · 29/12/2022 18:38

Put a door on to make it a cupboard. Then it doesn't matter.

Fair suggestion, but there's furniture in the way, so wouldn't be able to open a door.

OP posts:
Ilkleymoor · 29/12/2022 18:49

Books that visitors might want to browse or borrow, books you might leaf through when sat on that room. Not chosen to 'say' something about you. Anyone who reads much will know you're being a knob. And anyone who doesn't won't care.

junebirthdaygirl · 29/12/2022 18:49

Could you mix it up with some books arranged in different ways, stacked, normal etc. Then a favourite vase, photo , plants..etc. Look up nice shelf arrangements and you will have great fun setting it up. I did that during Covid and was so proud of it.

Gizlotsmum · 29/12/2022 18:50

Our downstairs book case has reference books, books we don’t read a lot and books we intend to read in no particular order, upstairs bookcase is children’s books and our next to reads, there are also books stashed in various places around the house.

Seainasive · 29/12/2022 18:51

My living-room library is pretty much a mix of B, D and E, though Dorothy Sayers rather than Georgette Heyer 😀

Okwotnext · 29/12/2022 18:56

You need to consider where you do any zoom calls or similar. If all your highbrow books are in the front room what will be left in the background of your work area🤔

Original poster
LadyIsabellaWrotham · 29/12/2022 19:05

Okwotnext · 29/12/2022 18:56

You need to consider where you do any zoom calls or similar. If all your highbrow books are in the front room what will be left in the background of your work area🤔

No bookshelves behind my work space: if there were then I'd have wrestled with this issue three years ago!

Thanks for the contributions all: I've had an enjoyably frivolous walk around the house to plan and am going to shove non-fiction, poetry and reference in the front room, and will have a lovely couple of hours listening to podcasts, dusting and shifting Adult Fiction H:N (currently in neat piles on the floor) onto the shelves vacated.

OP posts:
justasking111 · 29/12/2022 19:08

I know someone who sprayed all theirs in a suitable farrow and ball shade to match the colour scheme. 😁

declutteringmymind · 29/12/2022 19:08

Books that anyone would like - as it's a communal space. I wouldn't split them into letters though. Maybe non fiction?

Saucery · 29/12/2022 19:09

Floweryflora · 29/12/2022 18:37

Everyone who has been to school is Dewey trained 😂

Show quote history

364.78. Without Googling Wink

TintinHadToBeMale · 29/12/2022 19:10

How pretentious. You put the ones you are going to use most somewhere where you can use them. I prioritised my non fiction mostly in the vaguely Dewey sort of order, adjusted for ease of shelf height, so I had my cooking and craft books tp hand and kids’ books at their height. <looks at the mess of fiction hanging around everywhere having been moved three times for decorating already and sighs>.

TintinHadToBeMale · 29/12/2022 19:12

justasking111 · 29/12/2022 19:08

I know someone who sprayed all theirs in a suitable farrow and ball shade to match the colour scheme. 😁

You know, traditional aristocratic houses bound them all in their very own binding… it’s how the aristocratic house books look all uniform and posh. #triviaisme

Pallisers · 29/12/2022 19:12

When we redid our house a few years ago we turned what was the tv room (small sitting room) into a book room with shelves on 3 walls. It is my favourite room. We also have a wall of bookshelves in our bedroom.

We put most of our hardbacks and bigger books in the downstairs room. I arranged them by topic (poetry/history/novels/travel) and then by colour. I may be a monster but I love a colour blocked bookshelf. My cook books are in shelves in the kitchen island and are entirely by colour - they look very pretty. bookshelves in our bedroom started being by author and topic but are now hopelessly chaotic.

purplewolfie · 29/12/2022 19:17

The books in my bedroom (that I actually read) are arranged in the order I read them. It's nice to look back and see what I read 1/2/3 years ago.

Original poster
LadyIsabellaWrotham · 29/12/2022 19:19

I did briefly do DD's bookshelf as a rainbow when she was about 7. It was very pretty, but it was only one bookshelf, and even so, seeing all the books from a single series randomly scattered on different shelves because they happened to have differnt spines made me twitch.

OP posts:
WinterFoxes · 29/12/2022 19:21

In our front room we have hardback novels and some hardback non fiction, because like you we have so many books, we may as well have the nicer looking ones on public display. The tatty paperbacks are alphabetised (by DH) upstairs and in the back room we have poetry and some non fiction.

Original poster
LadyIsabellaWrotham · 29/12/2022 19:21

purplewolfie · 29/12/2022 19:17

The books in my bedroom (that I actually read) are arranged in the order I read them. It's nice to look back and see what I read 1/2/3 years ago.

Oh that's a nice idea. You'd need to take photos to keep track if you moved house though.

OP posts:
JaninaDuszejko · 29/12/2022 19:24

In our last house we had read novels and poetry (alphabetical by author's surname) in the sitting room. The study had my TBR bookshelf, the science books (DH and I are scientists so have lots) and magazines. The dining room had cook books and (non-science) non-fiction and reference. This was a hangover from my childhood home where my Dad would drag out the appropriate reference book when we were discussing a topic at the dinner table and look up any points of contention. T'interweb has destroyed that delight of mealtimes though.

We now have all the books in the sitting room. One alcove is TBR, one is cookbooks (in rainbow order!). and the wall behind the sofa is everything else in alphabetical by author order. I like the juxtaposition of having e.g. Henry Fielding and Richard Feynman next to each other.

InMySpareTime · 29/12/2022 19:34

We have non-fiction in the living room (as that's the room with the most reference-worthy conversation).
Adult fiction in the dining room, mostly alphabetical except where we have separate shelving for certain favourite prolific authors.
The studio has children's and YA fiction, and a separate folklore section as that spans fiction and non-fiction.
Cookbooks are in the utility room.
The system needs rejigging after my Nan died and I fell heir to about 500 of her books (I left a load more but there was only so much we could fit in the car).
We have only one TBR shelf, but it's over a metre wide and quadruple stacked.

Toddlerteaplease · 29/12/2022 19:36

The ones that make me look
Intelligent!

mewkins · 29/12/2022 19:50

Whatevergetsyouthroughthenight · 29/12/2022 18:37

Just to add in another variable, size of books may matter and whether you have fixed or adjustable shelves both in your living room and elsewhere.

I would probably go for option B all else being equal.

Agree. Mine are on the shelves based on size and weight, heavier books at the bottom. Smaller paperbacks at the top.