Mmmmm.... Bookshelves

Technically, it's a big magazine rack. I've been in the process (a long one) of cleaning out, reorganizing and decorating my home office/studio for the last few weeks. I got the room cleaned out, but had stacks and stacks of beautiful craft books that wouldn't fit in the skinny hand-me-down bookshelves I already had. I ran to my favorite thrift store and found the perfect solution in this ginormous magazine rack/bookshelf.

See, I'm a hugely visual person. I like having things out where I can see them - especially my books. Craft books are typically beautifully designed, and having them shoved - spines out - into a cramped bookshelf just doesn't do them justice. I also have a lot of random vintage books that I love (I'm a sucker for old science and text books, especially ones about the space program) and I just like to be able to actually look at them, ya know?

The magazine rack was $16, and after finding a friend's truck (and a friend who could drive a stick - thanks, Jamie!) I got it home and found that it fit perfectly on the wall directly across from my desk. I have loved having it there where I can look up at any moment and see my favorite craft and vintage books. It's crazy kinds of inspirational. I've also started hanging some of my other favorite inspirational items on the wall above the shelves.

I've still got a lot of work to do on the office, and I'll be documenting it here from time to time, but just this first big purchase makes me so giddy I can't stand it. And I haven't even repainted it yet!

You can see close-up pictures of each of the shelves over on my Flickr stream. I've labeled all the books and included links where I can, too. Enjoy!