I might have added “straighten up your bookshelves” as its own section in yesterday’s post, such is the effect that doing so has on the look and feel of a space. Add to that a thorough decluttering of vagrant other reading materials scattered throughout your abode and you’ve got a conquerable project in the quest to Live Simply.

Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to tackle the reading material in your quarters.

-Gather all stray magazines.

Those issues that have been laying around the house for 4 months now? The ones whose pages have begun to warp and crinkle after having spent half a year next to the bathroom sink? It’s time to call it on those.

Do a speed peruse to ensure there were no articles you had intended to hold onto (if you like) and then head straight over to the recycling bin. It’s 2015 now, anyhow. Those 2014 issues are like, so already out of season.

-Collect any stray books.

While you’re at it, gather any books that have wandered away from the bookshelf and return them to their rightful place.

-Get your edit on.

Have a moment with your bookshelves. Scan your titles and carefully consider whether you truly want each one to remain living in your library, or whether it’s time you passed along a few to someone else who would benefit from the information contained within. Remember, we live in this crazy world of information accessibility, in which most every fact, quote, or guide can be found online.

This is an especially wise practice for those with young children, as books, like all other belongings, get noticeably outgrown over time.

-Put on your stylist hat.

Once you’ve cleared out the riffraff, enjoy (enjoy) the task of rearranging your bookshelves.

If you’ve always stacked your books vertically, maybe it’s time to be a little daring and add some horizontal stacks into the mix. If you’ve always sorted by category but yearn for a more styled effect, try color-coding them. Be purposeful about the arrangement.

Pssst:

For a more in-depth lesson in the art of book shelving, you can head over to this post.

And for a guide to deciphering what objects besides books belong or do not belong on your shelves, you might take a gander at this. 

Image credit: Archiblox via Desire to Inspire, home of Molly Guy, photography by Fran Parente via Refinery 29, Real Simple