Bookshelves offer so much more than a place to store your favourite reads, writes Georgia Madden. They are a decorating opportunity in the making.

Books are easy to love, hard to part with, and quick to take over our homes. If your collection of tomes is gaining the upper hand, it's time to schedule a thorough clear-out of those that are past their use-by date, and then to get the rest into perfect order.

Once you've decided what is for keeps, rather than hiding them away, make a feature of your books by displaying them like wall art. Create blocks of bold colour by arranging spines according to hue, or stack them at different angles for an eye-catching patchwork effect. Why not try a bookshop display, with the front covers of your most treasured volumes facing the room, or give those with tatty dust jackets a new lease of life by covering them with decorative paper?

Free style

Freestanding bookcases are incredibly versatile: they can be shifted around, do double duty as a room divider in an open-plan space, or perform the additional function of a desk or home-theatre storage. According to David Hartikainen, Residential Manager at Space, multifunctional storage is the key to small-space living. “The latest designs are places to work, store your books and house all your entertainment needs in one,” he says.

Go with the flow

Soft, organic lines are big news in shelving. Look for curved bookshelves that weave in and out from the wall, and asymmetrical designs that “create a visually complex and more interesting look than standard shelving,” says Fabio Fanuli of Fanuli Furniture. The latest bookcases demand attention, with bright, look-at-me colours and an intriguing mix of materials, such as metal, timber and lacquer.

Break it up

Long banks of densely filled bookshelves can easily overpower a room. Create light and shade — leave some open space between shelves and break up rows of books with favourite decorative pieces, framed by the shelves.

Made to measure

Because it's custom-made for your home, built-in shelving makes the best use of your space and fits even the most awkward spots. It's more expensive than freestanding shelving, but will blend in seamlessly with your architecture, and boost your home's value. Before speaking to a cabinetmaker, measure all the books you need to store, factoring in space for the tallest and bulkiest volumes and new buys.

Make the most of under-used wall areas for your built-ins. An empty hallway, in the stairwell — both above and below the stairs — and around the fireplace are ideal spots to house a large number of books without swallowing up precious floor space. And think vertically: take built-ins from floor to ceiling, and even above doorways and around your window frames.

Shelf life

Add character to a plain bookcase by lining the interior with wallpaper. Choose one pattern, or line each shelf with a different paper that's unified by theme or colour — light patterns with plenty of space around them work best. Or create a playful trompe l'oeil by interspersing real book displays with faux ones — try Brunschwig & Fils and Deborah Bowness for faux-book wallpaper.

Close encounters

Store books where you use them: cookbooks in the kitchen, children's books in their bedrooms, and reference material in the study. Books you refer to regularly should be between knee and eye height so they're comfortably within reach, those you read occasionally on the upper and lower shelves, and heavy books at the bottom.