The apartment has small rooms, and I've accumulated about half a kilometer worth of books. Any ideas about hanging shelves or built-in cabinets? Maybe there are some modern storage solutions out there?
A whole half of the room for a bookshelf is pretty extreme, of course. But before you start looking for new storage spots, it's worth thinking about whether you actually need all these books. Half a kilometer worth is a lot, and you can definitely give some away, sell them, or just toss them. Paper books take up a huge amount of space for minimal information density. Keeping only what you actually need or love - that'll free up tons of space.
If you really do need to keep some books, it makes sense to use vertical space smartly. Hanging shelves above doors, along narrow walls, over a desk - that all helps a bit, but it's not magic. Built-in cabinets need renovation work, which is time-consuming and expensive. But shelving units in corners, especially corner models, take up less usable floor space than a rectangle in the middle of the room. The space between the ceiling and the wall works too - if your ceilings are high enough, a narrow shelf tucked up near the top is fine for holding books you rarely pull down.
Honestly, the real solution isn't new furniture, it's going through your collection with a critical eye. If you cut it down to half, the whole storage problem becomes way easier. What's left will be much simpler to fit in without messing up how you actually live in the room.
Floating shelves are a great option, but their surface area is limited, so they're more of a way to expand your existing storage rather than solve the problem overall. Built-in cabinets also require renovation and wall reconstruction, which isn't always possible in a rental apartment. But here's a practical trick that a lot of people miss: use the vertical space above doorways. There's almost always an unused zone there about 1.5 to 2 meters high - you can fit shelves there with books you read less often, and you won't need to reach for them that often anyway.
Also, think about the space under your bed or couch. There are special low dressers on wheels or flat containers that fit under there - books lie flat in them, don't take up much visual space, and if you need something, the container's easy to pull out. Old window frames, if there's a windowsill, also often get converted into shelving, which gives you a decent length for storage.
But real talk: maybe you should figure out how many books you actually reread? Even serious readers usually keep only 20-30% of their total collection in regular rotation, the rest is just insurance. Since half your room is already taken up, maybe convert some to digital or give some away? That'll free up space not just for living, but also make it easier to find the book you're looking for.
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