If you’re like me, you have often found yourself running out of places to stuff your massive book collection. In my case, when my husband gently suggested that I get rid of some of my books, which were stacked in every room and dripping from several mismatched and rickety bookcases, I started hitting up carpenters. We ended up installing a wall of built-in bookshelves in our ex-dining room, which had become a funny little landing off of the kitchen. Add an overstuffed chair and a lamp, and voila! Home library.

For today’s Fantasy Break, we’re looking at creative ways to store books in not-much-space. Some of these projects are so cozy that it makes me want to buy more books just to build them! And no, “in a Kindle” does not count as a book storage solution, husband. A Kindle is a supplement of, not a substitute for, a home library. Enjoy, and vote for your favorite tiny home library solution in our poll! So, where can you stuff your books?

1. In the hallway

I wouldn’t have thought so, but these hallway libraries are surprisingly wonderful! I suspect one would need to start with a fairly wide hallway (and then hope that they never needed to navigate their house in a wheelchair), but aren’t these kind of cool?

2. In the closet

What’s more important, storing coats, or storing books? I know that most people don’t just have a spare closet lying around, but I’m very tempted to sacrifice storing my coats, boots, and dog leashes in favor of one of these beautiful conversions! Add a pedestal with drawers, a cushion, and some lighting, and you’ve got yourself a reading nook. In the below case, they’ve removed the wooden doors from an old built-in bedroom closet and added shelves. Stunning!

3. On your landing

If you have a landing between your upstairs and downstairs, you can easily turn it into a mini-library landing. Add some shelves and a little chair, and you’re all set? Also, how neat is that big bookshelf inside the faux frame?

4. In a window seat

What better way to while away the hours but reading in a sunny window seat? If you already have one, you can sacrifice a bit of your horizontal space and add some built-ins on one or both sides, you could turn the seat itself into a bookshelf, or, best of all, why not add one? After all, haven’t you always wanted a window seat?

5. Under your stairs

Here I go, assuming you haven’t already turned the area under your staircase into a Harry Potter hideout. If you haven’t, though, a staircase is a great place to carve out some space for a mini-office or some amazing bookshelves. Why have wasted space?

Emily Parker is a musician, writer, and avid reader who started Bucket List Book Reviews, the ‘1,001 Books to Read Before You Die’ project. For Sweatpants & Coffee, Emily hopes to inspire the reading of the classics by a whole new audience by only reviewing the really good stuff.

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