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How I organize my bookshelf in my 38 qm apartment in Berlin

A wall to tell

I have been living in a small apartment in the heart of Berlin for about 7 years now. It is a room and a half with an eat-in kitchen. Even before the wave of the minimalism trend, I had to deal with the space I had available and my propensity to buy books, vinyl, art-books, plants, and vases.

I have never been a great supporter of minimalism as such, I like to live in functional environments that tell the story of the person living there in an unerring way. I like to inherit objects from my parents, whether it’s a small sculpture, a vase, or a drawing by my father.

I am a great supporter of conscious buying rather than conscious buying, which is why I choose every single object carefully, considering its value, aesthetics, and functionality. I do not consider myself particularly materialistic because I have shown myself several times that I know how to give up material goods, sometimes giving them away, more rarely putting them up for sale.

I don’t like to accumulate, for this reason, I have learned to let go of the objects that I no longer consider necessary in my life. My bookshop and the way I organized it, represent a lot of this style of thinking as it collects both inherited objects, books, drawings, and some ornaments.

Obviously, I don’t have all my books on a single wall, I have deliberately decided to arrange only those with a light or modest cover because for me it is necessary to maintain a harmonious balance in the only room where I live and sleep.

The objects are almost divided into 3 groups: books (mostly my favorite Japanese novels), valuables (like a drawing and a small sculpture made by my father), prints (my analog photos in California). I periodically change the arrangement of the objects to have a different mood, but never in a drastic way.

What is fundamental for me is never to fill all the spaces, because the void takes on more value when surrounded by objects.

“I am my own home”

Marianne Faithful
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