Built-in bookcases for main living spaces - good or bad?

[Anonymous]

We had bookcases built in our family room, on either side of the fireplace, below small square windows (adjacent to the fireplace) and then to the ceiling at either end of the fireplace wall. We love them because we love books, though we've also mixed in pottery, photos and artwork to display along with the books (organized by subject matter).

[Anonymous]

Books? That is still around?

[Anonymous]

I love a room with books.

A home without books is like a body without a soul.

A home without books is like a room without windows.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op again. Thanks for the feedback!

What do you think about fixed height shelves vs adjustable? Adjustable has many attractions except I really don't like the look of those little holes along the sides where the pegs go. Is there a way to avoid those?

I hate the holes; IMO makes the piece look Ikea cheap. We did 'em (built in bookshelves) and specifically requested no holes. Interestingly got some pushback (maybe they had to fill in pre-made holes?) but are TOTALLY satisfied with the results. They look like old school bookshelves from a craftsman home, rather than added on pre-fab stuff. Anyway -my vote is NO on the holes. And, I haven't once in six years wished to alter the shelves configurations (so no wish for holes).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're considering built-ins. Here's my thoughts:

1. They need to be nicely done. I've seen some places where it's just basic boards painted white and frankly, it looks terrible. The ones in the pics are obviously high quality. But this is not a DIY project.

2. You have to be very disciplined about keeping them free of clutter and too much stuff. Look at pics on Houzz and the like. You'll notice the shelves are maybe 1/2 full, that there aren't many actual books, and the books that are there are nicer, coffee table or leather-bound, maybe a few non-fiction hard covers.

3. It can limit furniture placement. If you have built-ins, that's one wall you can use for a couch or the tv, etc. That's actually our biggest hurdle -- our house is pretty open, so we don't have a lot of wall space and the rooms aren't quite big enough to do a lot of floating furniture.

I think overall, they can really be great, but those are the pitfalls that come to mind.

All of this x1000

We put them in the corner of our living room. And completely agree with all of this. We paid a premium for a finish carpenter and the look beautiful and original to the home. Once a month I have to de clutter.

We have the adjustable and, while the holes bug me, the flexibility greatly outweighs the look.

[Anonymous]

I adore the idea of built in bookcases. And agree with PP that they don't invite clutter. We don't have built ins, but we also still have some books in boxes. Although no longer any books on the floor!

(I lie. There are books on my floor. But they are books in the middle of being read that have been put down on the floor. They don't "go" on the floor, in piles.)

[Anonymous]

We love ours. The holes aren't my favorite part, but I do find them necessary. I like being able to change the configuration to fit in something new like a larger book or a beautiful piece of art. We don't change them all the time, but it's nice to have the option. I had ones before that didn't have holes and I hated that they couldn't be changed. It was too limiting. Agree completely that it's essential not to crowd them too much.

[Anonymous]

Love them, esp. when built in around fireplaces or window seats. I'm a book collector though so maybe I am biased, lol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Built-in bookcases are always a good idea. Always.

x1,000

x2


and you should display all 3000 of your books on them - neatly edited little vignettes

^ should NOT display

No way. Books win over vignettes imo. I love looking at friends' book collections. You can tell a lot about a person from seeing what they read.

[Anonymous]

We put them in our family room. Love them. They make the small room look bigger and are very functional. Cost was $5000 including painting them. But this was 10 years ago. We got the adjustable kind. I like the flexibility and the holes don't bother me.

[Anonymous]

They area a great idea and one of the things that sold me on my house when there were other things that seriously needed attention and were discouraging me. I do however, agree with a previous poster who cautioned against not having enough other wall space if you have too many of them. Don't go overboard.

[Anonymous]

I'm shaking my head at some of the anti-built-in responses.

"They get dusty and dirty" is my favorite. Sure they get dusty and dirty... if you don't dust and clean regularly. If you're not a slob, then they're great.

[Anonymous]

OP, I love that look, and it wouldn't limit furniture placement like a PP said because it's where your doorway is anyway. I would build the shelves all the way up to the ceiling though, because you're never going to dust up there and it can get gross (I speak from personal experience, ha!).

[Anonymous]

I personally love built-in bookcases and wish I had them in my current house. The wall of built-ins in an upstairs bedroom and the built-in china cabinets were among the reasons I bought my previous house.

But yes, they need to be high-quality or they will be seen by some buyers as a deal-breaker. And yes, you need to think about where furniture would be situated.

I have a fireplace in my current living room that breaks up the short wall of the living room - I'm thinking of doing built-in floor-to-ceiling bookcases on either side, because you can't really put any furniture (except free-standing bookcases) there now.