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?

No not at all. ‘Snob’ has two meanings, one being that you simply think your tastes are superior to someone else’s. I neither know nor care about your class.

And being called upper class isn’t a compliment, not that I was calling you that. You aren’t a better person if you’re upper or middle class.

My DDs are mid-20s and both have bookshelves and a lot of books. They wouldn’t want to listen to a book.

@ZebraPensAreLife

Why would you want to re-read something when you remember what happened in it? And when there are so many new books to read!

Because you particularly liked it and know you will enjoy it again? I reread a handful of books every few years or so. And some I will read knowing they are going to cheer me up. Also I have reread books though book club and got something different out of it.

It isn’t cluttered though, it’s tidy. There isn’t ‘stuff’ everywhere, just the bookcases, some photos and some flowers. It doesn’t look an old fashioned house to me. Do you find it unusual when people don’t have matching sets of furniture?

That’s hardly an inference. She’s been explicitly honest about this from the start.

You really really thought this, did you? 🤨

I love reading, we have hundreds of books in the house, the kids all have bookcases in their bedrooms but I would never sneer at people who didn’t.

Some of the replies on this thread are unbelievable. The pp who dumped her date because he didn’t have bookshelves, the English teacher who can’t believe OP’s was a serious question, the posters who are ‘unnerved’ at houses without books? The poster who gets through a 1000 books a year. 😂😆🤣😂
I never realised the competitive book collecting threads were as mad as the competitive undereating ones. So funny.

Whilst my house is like the one in the second picture, that doesn't mean I don't dream of one that sounds like yours, @Damaged27. A couple of friends have houses like that and they are so calming. However, I also can't fully relax as I feel as though I'm cluttering it up and wouldn't be able to keep it to those standards myself so it's easier to go for the cluttered, eclectic approach

We don’t have book shelves,
the kids read alot but we give them away as soon as they are read unless they are special books / most liked.
so each kid has 10 books each at each given time.
we donate them / give them to the local nursery and school or to others who want them.

😂😆🤣 nice one, OP 🤣

Can you show me where iv said my tastes are better please. I'm confused where you have read this

My Dh is very clever and he doesn’t read

Mine is the same. But he’s smart in ways alien to me! Reading a lot doesn’t necessarily equate intelligence.

There are different types of intelligence and they cannot all be learnt from books!

It been repeatedly inferred by your comments about clutter and mismatches and ageist references. It’s come across very snobby.

I said implied, not said, your choice of words indicated.

My house doesn’t look like that, no but I do have bookshelves with lots of books on. I don’t read as much as I used to and when I do it’s usually on an e-reader these days but there are loads of books I can’t bear to part with. Classic novels and textbooks from college and university and lots of novels that I’ve loved, including ones I loved as a child/teen, so I still have my Narnia set and a few Enid Blytons.

What I class as clutter is not what others class as clutter. I have a very minimalistic home for this reason. Most would think my home is bare and boring and that's OK because it's my home but I don't get offended them saying that as everyone has different tastes and that's OK.

I'll take it on trust that your "hoard for 30 years" tactless comment is because you don't think before you type.

Have you thought that books passed down through the generations isn't hoarding, it's having a real connection with the past and loved ones who have died but left their love of books for future generations to enjoy.

I've got books with hand-cut pages that my grandfather owned, picked up and read. His finger prints are on the books I now have on our shelves at home. I have my granny's recipe books with her notes in the margin in her handwriting that remind me how lucky I was to have a granny who enjoyed cooking for us as kids.

you sounds ignorant.and insensitive, if I'm really honest.

I’m not inferring anything. I’m telling her it shows.

Yes. We’re lucky enough to have a Reading Room. The room is modern and not at all old fashioned. We’re in our late 40s. The shelves are full of our books from and our children’s books. We need to donate the children’s books, as our DC no longer have use for them.

I love books and also used to work in Libraries.

We utilise our local public libraries, so do not need more space for more books.

Keep our Libraries open!

I’m glad you think that way, however as I’ve (and lots of others) have said your comments have come across somewhat judgemental and unpleasant. Maybe that wasn’t your intention, but that is how they are reading.

To be honest, when I saw the second photo, it wasn't the books themselves that jumped out at me, but rather the attractiveness of the bookcase, the stunning rug and the lovely armchair (plus sweet peas? in jugs)

Yes! We have bookcases everywhere and we're currently in the process of moving/renovating our next property which will include a built-in "library" of sorts. Most of the books are signed by the authors which we have collected in person at various different literary festivals over the years, or they have coloured, stencilled or patterned edges. We have first editions by Margaret Atwood (Handmaid's Tale), Michelle Obama, Buzz Aldrin, Garry Kasparov, Neil Gaiman and Debbie Harry just as a few examples of those we've met and they've signed our books. I've never got to grips with my Kindle - for me there is nothing like having an actual book in your hand and turning a page. We're probably in a minority I'm sure, but I love our collection and all the wonderful memories they represent.

So rude!

I don't know anyone who hasn't got bookshelves (or who has that horrific decor!)

We probably have 300-400 books in all on a couple of big bookshelves, and honestly I have not touched many of them in years. And also we have slowed down in buying then (we are in 30s and 40s).
So, you are right to a large extent in our case.

The whole point of this thread is because I'm interested in how others live their life and I explained the reason for this on a previous post. I didn't know people passed books down through generations after they died as its not something iv experienced before im not trying to be insensitive or ignorant I'm just trying to understand and learn. I genuinely thought we could all have an adult discussion and agree to disagree without people getting offended but obviously I was wrong