This is Instant Obsession, a weekly column that dishes on all the things our editors are obsessed with right now. From tableware and gorgeous furniture to luxe moisturizer and well-appointed hotels, here's what we're currently dreaming about.
It was a quaint front porch and light-filled open kitchen that sold me on buying my first house five years ago, but it’s the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves flanking both sides of the living room fireplace that have become the space I treasure most in my home.
Perhaps more than any other interior space, shelves can showcase not only your style but also the narrative of your life. Spines of books speak to the ideas and stories that have shaped you. Art and photos tell of significant people and places traveled. Found and purchased objects remind you of passions and memories. These collections take you back to the robust worlds you have visited, affirm what you care about and aspire to be, and act as conversation starters when friends and family spend time in their midst.
For me, a home library bookshelf starts with categorically stacking books I’ve collected over the years—some horizontal, some vertical, some of local and regional history, some are novels I want to reread someday. And then the process turns from science to art. I remove some book jackets to show off a better looking skin layer; others I leave on. I leave some of the stacks grouped by topic, while I reset others based on aesthetic.
Beatriz Ball Beatriz Ball Frame Emerson 5 X 7 Vertical (Gold)
Beatriz Ball Beatriz Ball Frame Emerson 5 X 7 Vertical (Gold)
From there, I start to mix them up with other objects of significance, arranging each shelf to have its own identity. Looking at my shelves today, a candle I inherited from my House of Many Roommates (13 to be exact, but only three at a time) in my 20s sits a few shelves away from a candle holder painted with scenes of Memphis, where I spent my college years. A black and white photo of my mom and her siblings from their 1960s childhood is showcased behind glass in one frame, a portrait of my brother and I in coordinating plaid outfits in another. A hazy landscape—the first piece of art I bought from an art show—sits a shelf above a letterpress print of the 100-year-old church building where I have attended worship services the past 12 years. A dark and moody photograph of Skellig Michael, an island off the coast of Ireland, reminds me of the day I spent exploring it.
Capri Blue Capri Blue Giant Mercury Glass Jar Candle
Capri Blue Capri Blue Giant Mercury Glass Jar Candle
Other objects—a vase and a few more candles—have no particular significance other than to bring in color and different shapes. Perhaps for you, a shelf might hold a special collection you have curated, found at an estate sale, or inherited from a family member. Accent boxes, dishes, and baskets might store other items that matter to you, and a bit of nature—perhaps a green plant or piece of driftwood—adds more texture to a shelf collection, all coming together with just the right amount of breathing room.
Once fully curated, at least for the moment, these horizontal wooden planks are where the designer in me meets the writer in me. Though there's an aesthetic that's pleasing to the eye, upon closer look you'll discover the ideas, the places, people, and feelings that have shaped and inspired me. Likewise, when I visit homes of friends old and new, I’m drawn to the words and objects that sit on their shelves; I reflect on what they’re teaching me about their owner.
Penguin Classics Jane Austen: The Complete Works 7-Book Boxed Set (Penguin Clothbound Classics)
Penguin Classics Jane Austen: The Complete Works 7-Book Boxed Set (Penguin Clothbound Classics)
This summer, I’m sure to shed a few tears as I pull my beloved books and frames off the shelves where they have lived for the past five years and place them in boxes. When they are opened again, they will join my fiance’s library collection as we get married and merge households. My Austen and Alcott will meet his Tolkien and Dostoyevsky, my photos and candles his figurines and paintings. Together we’ll categorize and compromise, sync and style, and the narrative of my shelves and his will give way to a joint narrative—one of our individual pasts and now our ever-evolving united present. There’s no doubt what space in our new home I’ll treasure most.
