HOW TO COEXIST PEACEFULLY WITH YOUR BOOKS

I love books. Not just reading them, but how they smell, the weight of them in my hands, the feel of the pages when I turn them. So naturally, I have a lot, culled from all stages of my life.

At some point, though, I realized that the way my books were crammed into every available space didn't accurately reflect their importance to me. They also looked like an afterthought, when really, they're anything but. I was in desperate need of an intervention.

I sent photos of my "bad bookcase" to several designers and organizers to get their suggestions of how best to display my book collection.

No one suggested getting rid of books — good, because that's not an option for me. This wasn't an exercise in de-cluttering; it was an attempt to find a way to cohabitate with my books and let them shine.

That's a sentiment Tracy Morris, a book lover herself and principal designer at Tracy Morris Design in Washington, often hears.

"As long as you do it tastefully, so it's beautiful and clean, you can put them anywhere your heart desires," she said. "Books are an enormous part of creating texture and warmth in a house."

And displaying books in combination with other meaningful treasures can turn them from clutter into a conversation piece, said Andreas Charalambous, principal architect at Forma Design in Washington.

"If you provide someone with the infrastructure or backdrop to place things in an orderly manner, it ends up being pleasing to look at," Charalambous said. "You don't want to just hide these things behind a closet door, because then they lose the importance that they have."

So how can bibliophiles hang onto their treasures while keeping their house from being featured on "Hoarders"?

Here are suggestions from professionals.

To read the complete article, see: Book lovers rejoice! How to coexist peacefully with your collection (www.denverpost.com/homegarden/ci_25868070/bookloversrejoice)

Wayne Homren, Editor

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