With all of our home makeover’s this year the hubby’s home office is the last one on the list… we’re so close! I shared a mood board for this space in a fun accessory post last week but of all the pieces I’m piecing (get it? bwah ha ha ha) together for this room I do need to pick up a few pieces too make the room work.
A comfy chair for the sitting area, a gorgeous cow canvas to pull more white into the space (plus I really just want it) and a pair of bookshelves. This room needs some major storage y’all… but finding bookshelves online can be challenging. Here’s a few of the bookcases I’ve looked at and my tips for finding bookshelves for your space… shopping online.
Now there are plenty of places to shop online but I’m always a little scared when making big purchases over the internet… so I turned to Overstock.com. I bought our large bedroom rug from them two years ago and had a great experience so I figured two for two right?
Narrow down the style of bookshelf you’re searching for!
When I started surfing the web for my perfect pair of bookshelves I wasn’t sure what to look for. My space has such a hodge podge of furniture that I didn’t have a distinctive color or style to search for. If you are looking specifically for wide white bookshelves that’s easy to start looking for… industrial? Search for pipes. Masculine… try sturdy dark walnut bookshelves.
See what I mean?
Think about what furniture you already have and which style bookshelf will complement the pieces already in place. Since our room has a mix of textures and colors (dark wood desk, Greek blue pie safe, wooden secretary, gray cube bookshelf) narrowing down the style was a little harder.
I decided to look for bookshelves in two styles: wide and white to make the room feel bigger and brighter, wooden/industrial to go with the masculine office vibe the hubby is searching for or gray to match the gray cube bookshelf under the window.
Step one complete.
Find Bookshelves that will function for your space
Once you’ve narrowed down the look try to think about what you’ll use the bookshelves for. Since our bookshelves will be in an office their primary function will be to hold books and office supplies. Big wide drawers would be helpful to hide office supplies. Short shelves would be helpful to break up the books and keep the knickknacks separate.
Different bookshelves serve different purposes… in our craft room I looked for bookshelves that had a removable back I could replace with wallpaper as well as flexible shelves I could easily change the position of. So that some shelves could be mall and skinny for my cricut and some could be tall and deep for baskets of supplies.
Of course, cube bookshelves are always helpful for storing supplies. We already have one under the windows in the office but the amount of storage they provide made us think about adding a few more behind the desk.
Measure your space to make sure the new bookshelves will fit!
Now it’s time for logistics… once you narrow it down to a few bookshelves (like the three above) measure your space and determine what size you’re looking for. I knew I needed wide bookshelves to take up the entire space behind the desk. I also knew I needed tall bookshelves… but not too tall because I had several items I wanted to put on top of the bookshelf and they needed to fit.
So I did the measurements… looked at all three options and made my decision. I’m ecstatic with the results! The hubby kind of loves them too!
Ready for the final reveal?
Here are my brand new bookshelves!
The internet is an awesome place to buy a bookshelf. As long as you know you know measurements, you have a lot more to choose from.
Bookshelves can definitely be tricky to find when it comes to space. Always make sure to take measurements before buying them! 🙂 Great tips.
Great information. As someone who is lacking in the design area, the pictures are very helpful! I have never ordered something this large online, but you make it seem easy!
Bookshelf is an elegant furniture as long as you choose the right one. It makes the house much more beautiful and tidy. Thanks so much for your tips on choosing bookshelves!
I really like the tips you shared! We will be needing some bookshelves for my daughter’s room soon. I really like how your brand new bookshelves look.
The tip on measuring is so important. One of the most epic furniture purchase fails I ever had was buying a big bookcase that I thought would be perfect for our place only to find that it didn’t fit in the area we had. Whoops!
Great ideas! I know it can be hard to imagine or picture some items in your space or knowing what it will look like! But shopping online is just so easy!
A great read and I love the photos of the beautiful rooms and book shelves. I’m looking for a new book shelf so this post gave me some good ideas!
Those bookshelves look sturdy and nice. I am really skeptical of buying bookshelves online. I would still want to personally see and feel the product.