Welcome to my rainbow room!

Since I'll also be talking about the things I've been reading in this blog, I think, that it's only right to show you my bookshelf. 

Years back, having a beautiful shelf was only just a dream. Truth be told, having a house for all my books was the dream, I never even thought of arranging it so it would be this pretty. All my books are either stacked against the wall or kept inside boxes because I live in a small condominium by myself and my space wasn't even enough for all my clothes, all the more, books. I even left some of my books at the office, and at one point an officemate even made a remark that I already need to bring them home. And so I did when I had enough money to buy a shelf. I arranged my books according to genre and author. It's very reassuring and helpful for me, but not too pretty in the eyes of others.

One day, my dad told me that he saw color-coded bookshelves at the mall and has been urging me since to re-arrange mine that way. I never even thought about it. I mean, WHY? How the hell will I be able to locate my books? And, wouldn't my bookish friends look down on me with disgust? But since, I haven't been reading too much for far too long, I realized, why not give it a shot? Maybe, just maybe, this is the push I need to be back on reading. It needed to be appealing, my books needed to be pretty. Moving house recently was the excuse I needed to make it a reality. Even my father was shocked.

It had been my first course of business in our new home.

Even before I arranged my bed and closet. I took the painstaking task of organizing my books by color. But at the back of my head -- an elaborate and divisive debate -- most especially when I'm putting my book collections apart since they don't belong on the same side of the color wheel. I was afraid of the backlash, but I was also excited of the outcome. I know how snobbish some bookworms can be (myself included). I was actually reminded of what A Little Life author Hanya Yanagihara said years ago in her interview with The Guardian, "Anyone who arranges their books by color doesn't truly care what's in the books,". Very snotty. Just how I view some of the bookworms in my life. But I shrugged it off and began putting my books out of the boxes. I mean, to hell with Hanya. I love my books and I want them to look pretty! Isn't that enough reason to arrange my books by color? 

But no, this is never about style over substance.

Back then, I honestly thought that it is impractical to color-organize my books because I possibly will have a hard time finding the copy I need. But here's what I discovered: I know where each book is. I can even tell you that I put A Little Life on my black and white shelf since it has a gray spine. I haven't read it yet, but I know its there. Just waiting for me to crack it open.

When I finished debating with myself. I put my work into the ultimate test: I posted a photo of my shelf on Facebook with the caption:

"I really have a feeling that I'll regret this in the future, but for now, let me just admire its beauty. ✨"

Until today, I ask myself if I'll really regret arranging my books this way, or I just wrote that caption to temper the backlash. But to my surprise, they actually all loved it. I don't have snobbish book friends after all!!!

So, if you want to arrange yours this way. Read below.

TIPS FOR COLOR CODING YOUR BOOKSHELVES

It was surprisingly easy but you have to consider a few things before you get started.

1. DECIDE ON HOW YOU WANT TO ARRANGE YOUR BOOKS

Yes, you've already thought about this so much. You want to organize your books by color but how? Vertical or horizontal. I wanted an LGBT-flag-like bookshelf so I opted for horizontal, it's also easier for me, since I wanted a long shelf and not a narrow one. 

2. ORGANIZE YOUR BOOKS

It's entirely different from arranging it by author or genre but you still need to be a little organized. Putting the books inside the shelf had been easier because I already created a separate pile for each color. When a pile got too big, that's when I started putting it inside the shelves. I don't really have enough patience but working on this might be easier if you put the pile into one box or one side of the room first before shelving it. But creating a pile for each book nevertheless gave me an idea that I have too much blue books and that I needed more space for them. That is why instead of a normal ROYGBIV scheme, I opted to put my books with blue spines in the center. Creating piles also helped me decide that I need to have another shelf for my black and white books.

3. BLACK AND WHITE BOOKS - WHAT TO DO WITH THEM?

This early, think of what you will do with your books with either black or white spines. As shown in the photo above, I created a separate shelf for them. But you can actually incorporate them within your colored shelf. That's actually for you to decide.

4. THINK OF HOW YOU WANT THE COLORS ARRANGED

As mentioned above, I ditched the ROYGBIV scheme because I wanted to highlight my blue books. Also, because I blue is my favorite color. You can do whatever you want. But personally, I like how my books resemble the color wheel. 

5. DON'T WORRY ABOUT BEING TOO NEAT

I'm not a very neat person. That's a fact. If you'll come into my room, you'll realize that my books maybe arranged by color but it's not really that neat at all. But it is still so pretty. So don't worry about being too neat. It will come out just fine. Embrace imperfection. Your room, your home, your bookshelf. It's yours! And it should be something you are comfortable with. Remember that you are doing this for yourself and not for other people. It's okay if your books don't have the same shade of yellow or red, it shouldn't suppose to anyway unless they're the same books.

6. PREPARE A FEATHER DUSTER

This is something I did not do. So my hands became so dirty. I also had a hard time cleaning some of the covers of my books because I did not have a feather duster handy. 

7. BE PATIENT

It took me three days before I finished my bookshelves. I know, I said that it's an easy project but it takes a lot of patience and time. And since I don't have both, it really took me a while to finish it.

I hope you enjoyed reading my bookshelf journey. If you want to organize your books by color and you need help, feel free to comment below. I also want to take a look at your bookshelves. I love looking at bookshelves! I mean, who doesn't, right? Please post them below.