Mini-Makeover: Bookshelves

We had a weekend full of smallish projects.  On Saturday, dad & I spent a few hours in the attic insulating.  Although the attic is completely unfinished, the previous owners did have it insulated fairly well.  There were just a few areas where we chose to add some extra insulation - mainly the line where the roof meets the main level walls.  Which means that it was 4 itchy hours of sliding around on our backs under the eaves.  Fun stuff!  The good news is that we're now toasty warm, framed up, & ready to wire!

The next job I tackled was a lot less physical & only took about 20 minutes!  Grady has a built-in bookcase in his room that was being completely overrun with his books.  I had tried a few months ago to arrange them by color, but that method just wasn't working for several reasons.  I'm all about organizing by color (my closet is color coded), but the boys in my life sadly are not!  Here's a shot of what the shelves looked like before I started - yikes!

Excuse the photo quality...Grady's room is SO dark at all times of the day & this photo was taken at night to top it off.  Anywhoo, you get the idea!

I started by taking every single item off the shelves & organizing them by size on the floor.  I also eliminated all of the books on the top shelf as they're chapter books that will be too old for him for several years anyway.  Might as well free up that space for something that he actually uses/can enjoy, right?  There was also a stack of 10 or so books that were either repeats, or that he & I didn't really care for that will either go to his cousin or in the garage sale pile.

 

 After sorting everything by size, I just loaded it all back onto the shelves in random stacks.  It's not perfect, but it doesn't hurt your eyes to look at either!  

P.S. The folding ruler in the above shot is actually what we use as Grady's growth chart.  We just unfold it, have him stand in front, & mark off how tall he is with a Sharpie right on the ruler.  It extends to 6.5 feet, so it should last at least through junior high!  I love how it's simple, not obnoxious, & is completely portable!

Isn't it insane how just taking out the chapter books & a small stack of books that we don't read freed up SO much space (for more books!)???