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?

But this comment is bonkers.

Presume you're on the wind up.

My kids were in receipt of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. There are a proportion of children in our town growing up in homes where reading in English isn't valued. Everyone was encouraged to sign up when they gave birth. I did have a conversation with a friend where we both felt we weren't the target recipient (she's a teacher, I'm also qualified to postgraduate level, with a joint honours degree in English) so please don't worry that none of the children would otherwise have a book. I did find it useful to broaden the range of books my children were exposed to. Some of the Imagination Library books were ones I would not have chosen for my baby / toddler.
The town also has a free book shop, as well as libraries so people can get hold of books. What we don't have is a real bookshop!

What a great set of bookshelves! No my house does t look like that but I do have lots of books on shelves! If I won the lottery I'd get a house with room for me to have a library!

That's a very decorative arrangement of books and a very put together, new all that the same time look.
Nobody I know who has a healthy appetite for books keeps their home as tidy or buys everything all at once from TKMAX, but they might live in a duster, more cluttered version of the photo.

I have two teenagers, one has book shelves full of books, all very nicely organized and the other has music only maybe a dozen books.
Books are a big thing on TikTok the same as vinyl.
Not sure why OP thinks it's only much older people who collect books.

Gosh, this thread is an eye-opener. I'm so lucky I'm managed to raise successful children without bookshelves.

We have bookshelves in every room, including the bog

I reckon that second photo is mostly Photoshop. The books on the door would be too deep to fit and the other shelves look far too perfect in size - books are different heights and widths, yet they all perfectly align with one another AND not one of the thin shelves is bowed even slightly, despite carrying a huge amount of weight over long spans.

Real people are more likely to have 1-2 tall Billys
2 short Billys
The plain pine one that cost about £17
Something in fake pine from MFI/Argos/couple of old CD racks with paperbacks shoved in
Couple of metal shelves that started off for something else but magnetically attracted books to them
5-7 books underneath the surface that has the plants you couldn't find a better place for without buying a load of grow lights, you haven't got round to that yet but they need to be near the window, along with a random pine cone and several chargers/USB cables from when you got something with a USB-C for the first time and needed the plug socket for
Box of books under the bed that they couldn't find room for on shelves
Couple of books by the bed that they haven't got around to re-reading
Chair with floor lamp and throw that was intended as a Reading Corner, but secretes missing remote controls, dead batteries, odd socks and a cat taking advantage of the jumper that was put down for five minutes about 5 months ago, 2 catnip mice and around 7 pencils and capless biros.

I'm saying the way people described their homes on the previous threads are not like anyone I know. The only people I no who have homes that I view as cluttered are elderly people as they have accumulated so much stuff over the years. My home is very minimalistic which I know a lot of people don't like but it's easy to clean when you don't have a lot of time with work and children, which is why I like it.

Bookshelves in virtually every room. I've just had the garage done as a home office/woman den and yes it does have a wall of bookshelves.

Oh my GOD - I have literally everything on this list! The only difference is my reading corner also has loose hair rollers

When my children were primary age, they had hundreds of books which were on bookshelves.

As they got older, they preferred to read on kindle, like us, so apart from books for study/work and some favourites, we don’t have many now. We got rid of our inbuilt bookshelves as we now have no need for them.

Kindle has changed things, times move on and most people move with them.

I'd like to have the room on the right with the hidden door which looks like it goes into a secret room. I wouldn't tell anybody that room was there!

I do have bookcases, but only billy bookcases from IKEA, nothing fancy like floor to ceiling ones.

Nobody I know who has a healthy appetite for books keeps their home as tidy or buys everything all at once from TKMAX, but they might live in a duster, more cluttered version of the photo.

🙄 " a healthy appetite for books " includes people with every kind of interior design taste including being extremely tidy and buying everything at once from TKMaxx. It has zero bearing.

The picture on the right is gorgeous.
We live in a big Edwardian Terrace, huge squashy sofas, navy and grey but with beautiful patterned wallpaper, paintings, photos, Ornaments and memorabilia, kids play area/corner at one side.
And then lots and lots and lots of books 📚
Travel books, collectible first editions/clothbound, books from both degrees, books with pictures in (e.g. art of Disney books), animals, space, the world, biographies, hundreds of children's books, classic books. I can't imagine a home for children without books in, I still remember his reception teacher last year telling me she could tell the children who came from homes of "readers".

No my house doesn’t look like that, take the book cases away and add a lot of toys everywhere. However, I do read. I just think books (unless valuable) are pointless to keep.

Yep loads of floor to ceiling bookshelves but still too many books in piles on the floor and on desks

These posts are hilarious.

I loves me a cliché.

I judge people who don’t have books and who have a beige or greige home. We also have a library, and have reference books - I have a lot of dictionaries (foreign language) for work, I also have over 500 cookery books. DH has work related design books, and we also have books that we read for pleasure.

You said you children have books so where are they kept?

Most people I know socially have book cases or book shelves in alcoves.

Where do you live? What is the average education level of the people you socialise with?

I judge people who judge people that don't have books.

Superiority complex for the win!

I can't believe you don't know anyone who has bookshelves. I've got thousands of books on shelves, novels, biographies, reference, gardening, art, sewing, all kinds. Some are old because they mean something to me or I still use them. I do go through them sometimes and donate them, but I also share a lot with family and friends. My son and his wife who are 30 have bookshelves too, they also read actual physical books even though they use technology extensively in their lives.
I can't imagine lying in bed reading a book on a kindle. Audio books are no substitute for actually reading a book either, the reader's voice and accent intrudes and affects how it comes over.
I don't know anyone well who doesn't have bookshelves full of books. Some do have a kindle or similar but only use it for holidays and prefer real books. I suppose we tend to associate with people who are quite similar to ourselves and who have similar interests. I can't imagine a life without reading whereas you say you barely read. I imagine being in a book club or doing a reading challenge would be a nightmare for you.

What does your house look like op?

My home is very minimalistic which I know a lot of people don't like but it's easy to clean when you don't have a lot of time with work and children, which is why I like it.

This is such a weird thread. It's great you like your home OP. I'm not quite sure what you're getting at. Why do you think people don't all have different homes?

I like minimal too. I feel claustrophobic with too much stuff. It's a constant battle with 4 kids.

Those rooms look pleasant but I wouldn't be happy to live there. Too full.

Oh and I have loads of books and love reading. My answer has been to restrict myself to one floor to ceiling book shelf. No more books than that. I had to get rid of loads to reduce to fit them in. But it's a good boundary.

We have at least 20 bookcases. There is 1 in the kitchen (recipe books), 6 in the playroom (books, games and toys), 3 in dc1's room (mostly books), 7 in the main sitting room, 1 in the main hall, 1 plus 3 big boxes of picture books in dc2's room and 3 in our bedroom.

Haven't a clue how many books we own but suspect as most bookcases are double stacked, it's way over a 1000.

We also have mis matched furniture because we have pieces we inherited next to pieces we grabbed from IKEA as somewhat penniless students. I like the fact that we have a 5 foot wooden skeleton next to pictures drawn by the kids at preschool next to embroideries done by my perfectionist great aunt and books everywhere.