Change Your Stuff—A Bookshelf Story

I hope your weekend was happy and rejuvenating. My weekend was too lazy, too cold, and over too fast. Saturday morning came too early, after a late night with my teenager, and I woke to my phone alarm reminding me that Lainey had a dance class in 10 minutes…I was still in bed and so was she. After we got that taken care of, the blue devils set in and I spent the next few hours dragging around and eating junk. I edited a few pictures, picked Riley up from a friends, and visited the grocery store. I decided to watch a basketball game with Joe because I desperately need a mini moment with him and that was about all we were going to get this weekend (I’m not sure if me sitting next to him on the couch and playing Solitaire while he watches a basketball game counts as a mini moment, but I’ll take what I can get.)

After the game was over I fell asleep on the couch and when I finally woke up, my eyes opened to my bookshelves in a dark corner of the home theatre room…then I swear I heard angels singing. I remembered something I had watched on YouTube the night before and my day completely changed!

Bookcase Fun

I had a project I had been thinking about and I knew is would chase my blue devils away and leave me with the satisfaction of accomplishing something…and it did! Special thanks to my sweet lawyer husband who changed his plans, late on Saturday afternoon, and helped me haul three rather heavy bookshelves up four flights of stairs. He is a good man! And special thanks to my sweet girls who helped me haul about 250 books up four flights of stairs. They are good girls!

Here is how our project went down:

1. Took a picture of the boring, empty wall in my bedroom that I see when I look in the mirror.

2. Cleaned all the books off the shelves, carried them upstairs, and put them in a pile on my bedroom floor.

3. Dismantled the shelves, carried them up the stairs, and anchored them to the wall.
4. Organized the books into piles according to color, and then placed them on the shelves according to color piles only…no similar books, authors, etc. together unless it just happened.
5. Took a picture of my new view.

6. The final product!

BONUS: You can really learn a lot about a person by what is on their bookshelves. For example, if you look at these shelves you could conclude that we are contemporary fiction-loving, DIYers that have an interest in dogs, kids, and gardens. And you would be right. You could also conclude that we are classics-reading, travelers that enjoy religion, finance, and home design. And you would also be right. Take a look at your bookshelves and see what I could conclude about you.

Here is a list of what is on my shelves…what are your conclusions about me?

White Books
The Mission, Country Gardens, The Art of Digital Photography, Vancouver & Victoria 2007,
The Woman Warrior, Their Eyes Were Watching God, The Professor's House, Confessions of an Organized Homemaker, Handcarts to Zion, How to Be Totally Miserable, Satellite Sisters' Uncommon Senses, Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Wilford Woodruff, Daughters of God, Eternal Harvest,
The Ultimate Career, All the King's Men, The E Myth Revisited, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter,
When the Emperor Was Divine, Self-Esteem: A Family Affair, The Fellowship of the Ring, Joseph Smith and the Restoration, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, The Shabby Chic Home, Doctrine and Covenants and Church History, Pottery Barn Home, The Best of Martha Stewart Living: Good Things, Mary Engelbreit's Outdoor Companion, Better Homes & Gardens: Cottage Style,
The Total Money Makeover, Teaching Children Joy, Teaching of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, Teaching Your Children Values, To Our Children's Children, The Promise, In the Beginning,
The Mayor of Casterbridge, The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Age of Innocence, Six-Point Plan for Raising Happy, Healthy Children, My Antonia, The Chosen, Of Mice and Men, To The Lighthouse,
A Room of One's Own, Othello, Crime and Punishment, The Grapes of Wrath, The Greatest Salesman in the World, Cold Sassy Tree, Animal Farm, The Shell Seekers, Pride and Prejudice, Decision in Philadelphia, The Work and the Glory: All is Well, The Peacegiver, The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Volumes 1 and 2, Teaching of Presidents of the Church: Spencer W. Kimball,
The Historian, The Boy Scout Handbook, A Train to Potevka, Never Let Me Go, The English Patient, Coming Home, It Pays to Talk, Country Living: Shortcuts to Decorating Country Style, The Anxiety & Phobia Handbook

Brown & Goldish Books
Book of Mormon Student Manual: Religion 121 and 122, Old Testament Student Manual: Religion 302, Go Forward With Faith: The Biography of Gordon B. Hinckley, Clothed With Charity, Fathers and Daughters, A Gracious Plenty, Wiring 1-2-3, The Endurance, Old Testament Seminary Student Study Guide, Old Testament Student Manual: Religion 301, Seven Layers of Organization, Honey for a Teen's heart, The Time Machine, The Miracle of Forgiveness, Girl With a Pearl Earring, The Virgin Blue, Mrs. Mike, Book of Mormon, The Pillars of the Earth, A Companion to Your Study of the Old Testament, The Kingdom and the Crown: Behold the Man

Yellow Books
Lawn Care for Dummies , Labrador Retrievers for Dummies, Superman, Tell Me a Riddle, Educating Zion, Lassie's Guide to a Family Best Friend, The 5-Factor Diet, Sneaky Feats, The Rapture of Canaan

Orange Books
Window Gardens, Decorating 1-2-3, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, The Copper Scroll, Angle of Repose, Teaching Children Responsibility, The Life and Teachings of Jesus and His Apostles: Religion 211 and 212, Body for Life Success Journal, Body-for-Life, Mere Christianity, A Lamp Unto My Feet,
Eat Pray Love, Your Money or Your Life, The Great Train Robbery

Red Books
The Work and the Glory: Pillar of Light, New Genesis: a Mormon Reader on Land and Community, The Bean Trees, Voices in Summer, The Davinci Code, Rebecca, Angels and Demons, The Norton Anthology of American Literature, Sense and Sensibility, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone,
The Work and the Glory: A Season of Joy, Jesus the Christ, The Articles of Faith, The Return of the King, Best Hikes with Children in Utah, Shadowlands, Journal of the Trail, What are we Feeding Our Kids, Teaching of Presidents of the Church: Harold B. Lee, The Ariana Trilogy

Greens
The Richest Man in Babylon, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Unabridged Charles Dickens,
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Draw Near Unto Me, Square Foot Gardening,
Jacob Have I Loved, Dreaming Water, Love Stargirl, Real Golf, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: 2 copies, 1,000 Places to See Before You Die, 250 Way to Connect With Your Family,
The Experts' Guide to Life at Home, Children: The Challenge, Out of Africa, Real Simple: The Organized Home, The Last Chinese Chef, Girl in the Mirror, 1000 Great Quilt Blocks, Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young, Home Design Techniques, Gardening Basics
Church History in the Fullness of Times, Galloway's Book on Running, The Year of Magical Thinking, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, The Work and the Glory: No Unhallowed Hand, Scrapbooking Everyday Moments

Blue Books
Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook, Room for Improvement, Family Power, The Hundred Secret Senses, Range of Motion, O Pioneers!, Duma Key, Quilts! Quilts!! Quilts!!!, New Country Style, Country Home: Quick Country Decorating, A Strong Man, Teachings of Presidents of the Church: John Taylor, Prayers for Sale, Heroines of the Restoration, Points Unknown, A Handbook to Literature, Honey for a Child's Heart, How to Start and Build a Law Practice, Alaska by Cruise Ship, The Hill, Silas Mariner, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, The Joy Luck Club, The Two Towers, Hope, Girl in Hyacinth Blue, In the Strength of the Lord, Stop Whining, Start Living, The Kingdom and the Crown: Fishers of Men, Strengthening Our Families, The New Testament for Latter-day Saint Families, The Work and the Glory: So Great a Cause, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, El Libro de Mormon, The Kingdom and the Crown: Come Unto Me, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families

Purple Books
Enemy Women, Emily Dickinson Poems, A Joyful Mother of Children, The Good Earth, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, The Work and the Glory: Thy Gold to Refine, Quilted Memories, The Comfortable Garden, Holusion Art

Black Books
Twilight, New Moon, Breaking Dawn, A Woman's Worth, Clay in the Master's Hands, I Know That My Redeemer Lives, Tara Road, The Digital Photography Book, A Thousand Splendid Suns, Memoirs f a Geisha, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, The Merchant of Venice, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, The Awakening, Watchers, The American, The Scarlet Letter, Utopia, Circle of Friends, Silver Surfer in the Enslavers, Writers Inc., Complete Wiring, The Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer, Complete Tiling, The Universe in a Nutshell, Too Perfect, A Thousand Splendid Suns, Wish You Well, My Name is Asher Lev, Lucifer's Hammer, Firefly Summer, The Work and the Glory: Praise to the Man, Fire of the Covenant

1 comment:

  1. Wow! Could you please come and see if you can hear angels sing at my house? I desperately need inspiration, perspective, or a bulldozer!

    ReplyDelete