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?

House doesn’t look like that, much more of a shambles - but does have floor to ceiling bookshelves- couldn’t be comfortable without them

Those pics do look a bit like my house. I do like a lot of colour, but for me it's block colours against white/neutral walls, no splashy patterned rugs.

Books, though.. yes, I have hundreds. And lots of bookshelves to put them on. The first thing we did when we moved into our current house was to get a joiner to build bookshelves into the alcoves on either side of the fireplace in the front room. Pretty much all of my friends and family have loads of books/bookshelves too. My job involves lots of books and my sister works in children’s publishing so she's always giving books to my kids. I guess we're just 'bookish' people.

I don't hang onto every book I've read and regularly donate some and buy second hand, but there's no way I could donate all of them. My house would feel bare and unwelcoming (to me, I don't necessarily think all houses without books are unwelcoming). My books aren't a hoard, they're a collection 😉

Edited to correct typos.

Most of that decor thread is just middle-class sneering. I wouldn't pay any attention to it!

My office is lined with bookshelves - one day, I'll have a proper library (a room devoted to reading - amazing!).

I also have bookcases in the hall, living room, bedroom and kitchen...

I love audiobooks and can just about tolerate a Kindle for travelling purposes, but nothing will ever replace 'real' books for me.

I find houses without books unnerving.

Ooh close, but no cigar!

I thought everyone had bookshelves of some kind?

The door-shelf looks as though it has 4 hinges. It is possible to get a spring-loaded wheel to support the handle-side of a heavy door... often drive-way gates and garage doors have a support wheel to prevent sagging.

I had a Kindle. It was DH’s cunning plan to stop me bringing more books into the house. It failed. I don’t like e-readers very much at all. In my 40s. I reread books and if I don’t then the DC or DH May or do read them. Most of my childhood books are now being read by DSs. I was asked how many books we had once…the estimate was 1000s. Bookcases everywhere and DH’s next plan is built in ones (he’s essentially given up on culling them now that DSs are reading anything they can lay their hands on).

My mum's house looks like that! I love it. Mine has two bookcases but not wall to wall like those. I like lots of stuff to look at 😊

Agree!

I do, they have books in their rooms we read stories before bed every night. I just don't like them in other parts of the house displayed it just looks cluttered to me

I read all the time but have no bookshelves at all - it's really not difficult to imagine if you broaden your mind a bit.

Those bookshelves look very similar to those we had built in when renovating our house. Not the furnishings so much.

I have a bookshelf with 100s of books & a kindle but my atheistic is more council state mum. 😂

We have lots of books and my house does not look like that!

My house isn't quite as nice as the pics, but of course I have have bookshelves! In the living room, spare room, office and attic. And that's on top of having over 1,000 books on Kindle. I can't live without books, and never throw them out. A house without books looks sterile and unloved to me.

No

No, not everyone has bookshelves or even books.

It's one of the reasons for bookstart, and why Dolly Parton set up a charity to give a book to every child.

Kids don't read if it isn't normal for their household and there aren't any books. There are plenty of households like that, although most houses with kids do have some kids books as the message has been getting out there that books are important.

It's also why most schools have a library - for the kids who have literally no books at home.

I reckon I have hundreds of cookbooks alone.
And I know many recipes are available online but also many are not.
I have complete collections of Elizabeth David and Jane Grigson's works, which are delightful to read, especially Jane who was both classically educated and a lively writer. I return to her books often and not just for the actual recipes.
So yes, we have bookcases.

It looks very similar to this…

See my "bookshelf" just beyond the bed. No books 😂. But I have books!! And a kindle! I just like to keep everything away from dust!

This is so clearly a goady thread, it's barely worth replying to.

But just in case... yes, my house looks a bit like that, and yes of course I have bookshelves. I find it deeply weird when people don't. I have copies of my old favourites, to be re-read whenever I fancy them... that might not be for 10 years, but I like to know they're there. Plus I get books from the library, so I need somewhere to put them.

And the thought of children without books is unbearably sad.

Seriously? Like, you thought everyone on planet earth had book shelves in their houses?

I also think books add pops of colour in rooms with white walls that we can't paint as we rent. They fit the William Morris criteria as they are both useful and decorative.

Yes, I have bookshelves. I culled a lot of my books when I moved house but still have 2 large bookshelves full.

I'm not in my 80's. I don't understand why you are so disparaging about other people's choices though. If you are ' not much of a reader' as you say then you wouldn't have books to put on the shelves, so you have your answer.

I suspect a bit of inverse snobbery going on here.