Is this what 99% of mumsnetters homes look like

[Damaged27]

After all these interior design threads this is what I'm imagining everyone on mumsnets homes look like. Just curious if I'm way off because iv never been in a home like this. Maybe if the person is in their 80s. Do people really have bookshelves?

They’re Chinese stools. Not saying you couldn’t pee in them, some have holes in them.

Read and donate.

I do a lot of my reading on kindle app these days anyway.

but some books just really need to be in the physical form for me

Yes - if you want to flip back and forth to check something or compare different parts against each other, that's much easier in a physical book.

Yep. That second picture is pretty much my house.

I cant imagine a house without books (a kindle's not the same - i have one).

I find views like this deeply odd
Have you never heard of ereaders?

I say this as the owner of several bookshelves

I would love to have book shelves like that as we have books everywhere. The DC have smallish bookshelves in their rooms, we also have boxes of books on the landing, plus piles of books on window ledges and the stairs.

I have two large bookcases in my living room, three large bookcases in my office, one large one on the landing, one in one spare bedroom and a small one in my bedroom. I also have 768 books on my Kindle, but I've only read 263 of them. When I emigrated to the US from the UK 22 years ago, I brought about 2000 books with me, but that was in pre-Kindle days.

Cats can belong anywhere except my home and my garden thank you very much.

I listen to audio books too but the experience is quite different to actually reading the words on a page where you can go back to admire the writing.

I read a book for enjoyment, not because I want to admire the writing. I do a lot of motorway driving and listen to audio books to pass the time on a long and boring drive.

I love audiobooks. Have them on whilst driving, cleaning etc. A good way to multitask!

My kids read and reread the same books over and over and over. Especially my youngest. With my older kids they read a much wider variety of books and we did weekly library trips, with my youngest he reads a much more limited range and reads each one many times.

We have lots of books. Always surprised that some families don't have any or hardly any...

The thing I don't like about the bookshelves in the OP's post is the symmetry. When I had a bookcase built by my brother he was pleased we went for asymmetry as it was more interesting build and unlike any others he'd made.

The present bookcases I have are asymmetrically arranged too,

Your friends are similar to you then; non readers.

I only just now realised that we don’t have bookshelves!!

We do read but I have the ones I want to keep out of sight in a wardrobe. That’s sad really.

I have never once said that. I said the only people I know who have homes that look like this which is cluttered in my opinion is people in their 80s as they have accumulated a lot of stuff over the years. This was not just about bookcases it was also about mismatched furniture and just stuff everywhere

I’ve got loads of books, read at least one a week. Bookshelves in most rooms. That doesn’t make me smug, but if I looked down on people who don’t read/have books in their homes, like a lot of the people on this thread are doing, it certainly would!

I have culled my books down to old favourites and reference books. I use the library and charity shops, book exchanges etc. so just don't hold onto them anymore. I couldn't live without books, I love them and feel they enrich my life. They can also look beautiful - see some of the Folio Society ones - and are tactile treasures. I don't really understand why anyone would dislike them but each to their own.

I have a bookcase and I would have more if I had space.

I love that right-hand picture with the concealed door that is a bookcase on a hinge. I've always wanted a house with a secret room.

One of my ILs houses looks v like the 2nd picture. Most people I know have LOTS of books on bookshelves, although few as pretty as this. I don’t have many books…I don’t like hoarding things. More toddler books than adults in my house!

I would like to claim the most Mumsnet house in that case.

I bought it recently and it has grey carpets and a feature wall in the living room, the room is however painted an off-while rather than white.

It is also full of books. And a very large tv.

I think I've probably offended everyone with my taste now!

No way. Would never ever use kindle.

Why not @Sausage1989?

I can read at night using my kindle without keeping DH awake, and it takes up less room in my bag than a book.

My house isn’t like the pics (it’s a 1930s house) with some character but yes one alcove is full of books and the other alcove is half full. The teens have many books too and son just asked for another bookcase for his room . Have given so many away over the years but some I can’t part with. Have a kindle also for holidays but there’s nothing like the feel and smell of a new book. Me and the kids can spend so long browsing in book shops and do have to have some self restraint as money is tight just now.

This is coming across as snobbery.

You’ve got 28 pages of people saying they have bookshelves, some have mismatched furniture etc. (and neither of those pictures are particularly ‘cluttered’ either). No one here is over 80 (that they’ve said). People are all different and like different things, just because people like things different to you doesn’t mean they’re lesser people. We all have differing tastes.

OP I read you description of your home. I'd hate it and think it cold, clinical and unhomely. You'd hate mine and think it is messy and cluttered. That's OK. It's good that our own homes suit us and we don't need to worry about how others live.

I don't think people can usually pray away the gay. That's a misrepresentation, maybe someone else said that. But I don't want to derail the thread.