I've been an avid reader my whole life, and unlike many folks today who read electronic texts on trendy devices, I've always preferred the heft and feel of a real book in my hands. I'm also the kind of person who prefers to buy most of my books instead of borrowing from public libraries. That's not to say that I always go after pristine, brand-new copies of everything I read; used bookstores are some of my favorite places to shop. Either way, I now have hundreds and hundreds of books that are stored in haphazard stacks in my basement -- which means I think it's finally time to buy some home library bookcases.
I already have a couple of bookshelves around the house, but they don't provide nearly enough space for all the volumes I own. What I'm planning to do is convert one of the guest bedrooms into a reading room or study, and line all four walls with home library bookcases. I'm not sure yet if this is a job I'd be able to do by myself or if I'll need to hire a contractor. At this point, however, I'm just shopping for the home library bookcases themselves. I think the style I choose will make a difference on the installation required, so I'll have to keep that in mind as I browse.
I've been looking at some pictures of home library bookcases online, and have seen several very impressive styles. For instance, I've always liked the classic look of a barrister bookcase. In addition, I think the cases with glass doors present a very sleek, modern look that would be nice in my house. Unfortunately, I have far too many books for the barrister style to be a practical choice, and the glass-enclosed shelves are definitely out of my budget. I do want quality furniture, but the price has to be within reason.
Actually, my best option as far as getting decent prices on home library bookcases might be to shop at an office furniture store. These places usually have a wide selection of bookshelves in a range of styles, materials, and colors to choose from, and if I use one of the national "superstores", I'd probably get a pretty good discount as well. I've already seen sale prices that are 20 to 40 percent below retail on a few websites, so this is what I'll probably end up doing. I also want to talk to a contractor about building custom home library bookcases for me. I know this route would probably cost way more than I can afford, but I have to at least ask because I think custom shelves would look amazing.
At any rate, I'm going to continue my search for affordable home library bookcases for the next few weekends, and hopefully will have them in place before too long. Then I can finally get my book collection out of the basement and into some kind of organized form.