I learned something about myself from this roundup of creative book cases:

I prefer boring bookshelves. There, I said it.

I do give credit for innovative design…

I’ve yet to find the perfect book storage/display method. As of now my books are divided into fiction and non-fiction sections, alphabetized by author. But what about art books? Collector’s items? Oddities?

Since I already toil over such (admittedly trivial) things, this would altogether unnerve me:

Some designs blur the line between shelving and sculpture or decoration, but no matter how brilliant, I can’t get around the non-linearity. It’s a matter of space conservation and practicality.

I cram books into every last spare inch. Non-functional curves and intricacies of design would make me feel as if I were wasting space due to the inevitable gaps. I also realized that I like to sweep my eyes straight across the shelf for maximum browsing. Therefore, books at an angle or upside down would completely break my flow.

I do think the maze bookcase would look wonderful when filled (though I’d probably try to stuff volumes into the spaces that are designed to be left blank):

I love skewed and distorted art, mad hatter cakes, crooked, rickety Tim Burton-equse settings…Why don’t I like this next one?

Nope…can’t handle it:

I recognize my mildly compulsive media organization habits (though I absolutely gave up on CD storage and there is a massive disorderly collection in the corner of my room).

I guess Mr. Bookman here is a pretty sassy character:

(caption, anyone?)

See more unconventional storage options here.

Now this…THIS is what I call efficient shelving!

Book cases built right into the stairs and walls!

Suddenly I feel like the space between my stairs is tragically wasted.