Why Color Sort Your Books (& A Few Other Things Too!)

I’ve been color sorting our books long before The Home Edit made it popular. Although, I can’t really take credit for the idea either. I’m pretty sure I saw a picture in a home magazine ages ago and adopted the practice whole heartedly. (Fun Fact: I was up on a ladder color sorting out the books on a tall bookshelf when I went into labor with my oldest son, 3 weeks early!) So why do I (and so many professional organizers and design gurus) recommend sorting and displaying books by color? Yes, it surely looks lovely, but it can help you find what you’re looking for easier too (and isn’t that the whole purpose of organization?!?)

Why Color Sort Your Books

Color sorting the books on your bookshelf has certainly become trendy in recent years. But beyond adding a whimsical-ish rainbow display to your space, there are actually some solid organizational reasons to display your books this way. If you’ve ever wondered why so many people use this trick and/or have been reluctant to give it a try, here are some reasons to consider!

Color Sorting Reduces Visual Clutter

Books come in pretty much every size and color you can imagine these days. Between the various shapes, colors, texts, and fonts, bookshelves often end up looking really busy and messy…even if there is a solid organization system in place (i.e., alphabetized).

This “visual clutter” may not bother you. But if it does, grouping books by color can instantly quiet the “noise.” When several books of the same color are grouped together, they create a larger “block” that looks like one item versus many, which is visually calming and easier for the brain to process.

And while you don’t necessarily have to display all your books in a linear rainbow gradient, this arrangement is also easiest on the eyes (thanks, Mother Nature) and provides some familiar predictability when locating books (since I’m pretty sure we’ve all known ROYGBIV since pre-K!)

Color Sorting Helps You Locate Books Quickly

Whenever someone comes into our home and sees our books organized by color, their first question is always “But how do you find what you’re looking for?”

And my answer is always the same: “I bet you know what a book looks like, even if you can’t remember the title. And vice versa.”

Try it! Think of a book…can you picture it too? You probably can!

While you can’t judge a book by its cover, you can usually remember it that way. Book cover and spine art play a significant part in the reading experience of a book. Quite often, you associate the story (or the information) contained inside the book with the outward facing visuals. So when you recall a book you want to reference, you can usually remember what it (generally) looks like too. And if you can (generally) remember what it looks like, you’ll know what color group to find it in on your shelf!

While using colors to find your books may not be quite as instant as alphabetization or some more scientific system…it very much works for the every day reader, and is quicker and easier to setup and maintain over time (especially in kid-friendly spaces!)

Tips & Tricks for Color Sorting Your Books

How to Color Sort Your Books

Color sorting your books is not a complicated or time-consuming endevour (unless you really have a lot of books!) It usually takes just 1-2-hours to transform a busy bookshelf.

1. Pull all the books off your shelves.
2. Sort the books into basic color piles (reds, oranges, yellows, greens, etc). As you go, purge through the books to eliminate ones you no longer need, are badly damaged, etc.
3. Once all the books are sorted into basic color piles, re-visit each pile and refine your sorting to better line up all the color variations within a single set (all light green together, then move into medium green, then dark green).
4. Return the color groups to your shelves in an order that makes the most sense to you.
5. Finally, adjust any books that don’t seem to look quite right because of color, height, etc.

When Book Spines Have Two (Or More) Colors

Sometimes, a book’s spine will have more than one color. Don’t overthink it. Pick the color grouping that strikes you as the most “predominant” color, or the color you really associate with the front of the book.

You Don’t Have to Display Books In a Rainbow

If you love the idea of color-sorting your books to reduce visual clutter, but a big, obvious rainbow display isn’t really your vibe, you can break up the color sections however makes the most sense to you. Further, you can place different color groups throughout shelves (or even the room!) to break up the rainbow even more.

Turning Books Can Help Reduce Visual Clutter Even More

If you are trying to create a bookshelf display that only features certain colors, you can turn stacks of books so that the neutral (bottom) edges face out instead of the colorful spines.

In our North Carolina family room, I really wanted the bookshelves to “blend” seamlessly with the rest of the room. So when my eye kept catching on the brighter stacks of yellow and red books, turning them 90 degrees allowed me to maintain my color sorting but without the distracting hues.

Use Neutral Books to Fill Up Space Without Added Visual Clutter

Books are a great way to fill up empty shelves (obviously), but this can also cause your shelves to appear unnecessarily cluttered. Sticking to white, black, or other neutral-toned books can help fill up those empty shelves without added busyness!

Not All Books Have to Be Sorted By Color

Do you have a set of books that look better (or make more sense) together rather than sorted out? Then keep them together! Color sorting doesn’t have to be all or nothing.

If you have a group of books that makes more sense grouped together (like my kids’ little skinny early reader books, shown below), keep them that way. But consider using a dedicated bin or speciality bookends to show they are a special set!

Other Things You Might Want to Color Sort Too!

Color sorting doesn’t only make sense for books. There are lots of things around the home that can be placed/displayed in color groups so that the items look nicer and cleaner, and it’s quicker and easier to find what you’re looking for too!

• Board Games
• Craft Supplies – ribbons, fabrics, papers, markers, paints, thread
• Clothing – both hung and folded up in drawers
• Wrapping Paper
• LEGO Bricks
• Christmas Ornaments
• Jewelry
• Table Cloths, Table Runners, Cloth Napkins

While I have color-sorted our books and my craft supplies for years, I’ve also been doing it a ton lately in my new gig with a professional organizing service. Even though I’ve long been a believer of the practice, I’m blown away over and over again by how much just grouping items by color and putting them into rainbow order instantly and dramatically streamlines pretty much any space.

If you’re looking for a quick and easy “win” in your home, pick a spot full of stuff and sort it out by color. I’m pretty sure you’ll be blown away by the difference, and you’ll never not sort by color again!