Almost everyone has a couple books laying around, whether it’s for educational purposes, recreation, or otherwise. Perhaps you’re a book lover, you have great taste in literature, but nowhere to put all your books. In either case, having a bookcase keeps your two to eighty books organized and easy to find. It would be simple to just get a standard, traditional-style bookcase for your collection, but that is neither stylish nor modern. If you’re seeking book storage for a modern home, here are some ideas.
A wall-mounted shelf is essentially functional wall art. It’s out of the way and doesn’t require space that reaches to the floor, so you can put things like other bookcases or a desk underneath. You can get really creative with the design and have bookcases in the shape of objects, animals, words, and more when dealing with a wall-mounted shelf. You do lose a couple “shelves” of the design for its functional purpose because of awkward shaping compared to books, so this is a choice better for a smaller collection to display.
Divided shelving creates a unique organizational system you can’t have with a traditional bookcase. Each shelf acts as its own bookend to another, and holds everything in place. Books can be stored on one shelf and fragile knick knacks on another without risking anything breaking because a bookend fails. Best of all, it is very visually interesting to look at when filled to the brim with all your reading materials.
Cubic designs are a big trend in modern design, so naturally you can find them in shelf form. One of my favorite parts of cubic bookcases is the smaller size cubes within it that allow for more detailed organizing based on genre and such. In thinner sections, you can store periodicals and magazines so they don’t get crumpled being stored with your books. You can even find cloth or woven baskets meant to fit inside the cube shelves if you want to add a little pizzazz of your own style to it.
Another type of modern bookcase is the tall freestanding kind with no wall needed to have a tower of literature. This is great for small corners and middle of the floor shelving next to an ottoman or reading chair for optimal reading reach. You can swap out an end table for one of these or the cubic style, as they can both sit next to your bed and have all the benefits of a nearby bookcase without any of the bulkiness. You can find one with a lamp built-in or get an appropriately-sized desk lamp to fit in or on top of the bookcase for convenient reading all times of day.
Backless shelves are like a backless dress: bold and bound to catch your eye. You can prop this bookshelf against a wall for extra support or set it up in the middle of the room; either way it leaves the room feeling very open compared to standard shelves. This is great if you don’t want to hide the wall your bookcase is against due to gorgeous wallpapering or tile. The big drawback of modern bookcases is sacrificing some functionality for the sake of design. If you have a shelf without two support walls, you do lack some vital book support unless you get a bookend or heavy decorative object to keep everything in place. There’s nothing wrong with a traditional bookcase, and mixing and matching both kinds allows you to have a modern look without sacrificing all the shelf space for functional storage.
