Every time I move house, I have that moment that all book-lovers have where you have to admit to yourself that you own a lot of books. Do you really need to own that many? Yes you do. Can you get rid of any so that there’s less to move? No, you really can’t.

I always feel bad for the guys helping me move as they lift these huge crates of tomes. … But it doesn’t stop me from buying more books.

On the plus side, this weekend, my boyfriend and I went to IKEA and had a long look at bookshelves for our new place. For someone who’s not a huge book worm, he’s incredibly understanding. Thinking about what I wanted, I had fun trawling through all the blog posts and articles online about the most amazing libraries in the world or the most unusual and wonderful bookshelves. (A lot of the bookshelves are gorgeous, but you can tell they’re not for big readers, since they can’t hold much, but so beautiful all the same!)

In the end, IKEA had something creative enough that we can build and install ourselves, that will look unusual and modern, but also hold all my books. It’s kind of a series of boxes that we’re putting up on the wall in a pattern, if you know what I mean. It was just such a lovely feeling, planning and looking at a home for my volumes, I think more than any other one purchased thing, it’s made my new house feel like home.