Ten Circular Bookcases To Wrap Your Eyes Around

When you think of bookcases, you probably think of rows upon rows of boring and straight shelves. Now a bookcase, no matter the design, will hardly be boring to any book-lover if it houses his or her treasured possessions. But then, it can’t hurt to have shelves that look interesting, right? How about circular? How about something that a book collector from the previous century would consider out of this world? Here are some that you can now find in the market and add to your home.

1. Astrolabio

Brought to us by Carpaneli, this beautiful bookcase does not need books to look even more appealing. If your aim is to have a bookcase that perfectly marries traditional and modern, this might be it. Traditional comes from the wooden materials, and the spiral book-holders perfectly represent the modern aspect. Now some people prefer to have their bookcases cramped with books but you cannot do that with this particular design. That’s actually a good thing because cleaning will not be a problem.

2. Circular Walking Bookshelf

Imagine yourself a hamster with your very own exercise wheel. Only your wheel is made of wood and you can store your books in it. Now there are a few things wrong with this picture (aside from the obvious fact that you are not a hamster). Firstly, the books will most likely fall out of their shelves when you start “walking.” Secondly, this will not work if you have tiny place. That will make you frustrated. And thirdly, if you do have a wide place, what happens when you accidentally wheeled yourself to the streets? Overall, though, we have a nice design here.

3. Cloud Bookshelf

If your taste happens to fall under the modern school of design, this will be a great addition to your home. Unobtrusive, beautifully designed, and quite appealing, this cloud bookshelf deserves its spot on this list. You can get this in different colours. You can even assemble them in ways that will work for your place. You can also request that your shelves come with internal lighting. The only problem I can see with this bookcase is that you don’t get to enjoy a good row of books to gaze at. But I guess that’s a price you have to pay with a circular bookshelf.

4. Ellipse Bookcase

Now THIS is beautiful. What could possibly be a better circular bookcase than one that you can easily imagine inside Bilbo Baggins’s house? Right? Apart from that LOTR appeal, this is also beautiful because it is made of solid wood and doesn’t look too strange. For instance, the horizontal parts still give you that traditional bookcase look. These horizontal slats also make organizing your books much easier. And because of the spiral parts, you can store books in different lengths. That’s a big deal for some book lovers.

5. Flexi Tube

Another great choice for the modern house. Unlike the Cloud Bookcase above, the Flexi Tube offers you bigger circles. You can also arrange the components any way you want. You can put them up with the circles forming a pyramid or go crazy with an overall look that you like. You can also put them up against a wall or as a divider. The latter is a great idea if you have a one-room place and you want to work with nifty compartmentalization strategies. The Flexi Tube also comes in different colours. An added bonus: they will light up your space because they come with a circular fluorescent lamp.

6. Zyk Shelving

Simply in structure but quite beautiful, isn’t it? The spaces between curved parts are not that big so this might be perfect for smaller books. It was originally designed to hold 700 CDs or DVDs so the spacing is not exactly something to complain about. Still, you can fit your books here without any problems. This also comes in different colours. The white one looks particularly gorgeous paired with the wooden X base.

7. Cardboard Yin Yang Bookcase

Yes, that’s right, this gorgeous circular bookshelf is made of cardboard. If you want a home with Asian influences, this bookshelf should hold a nice spot in your study or library. If you plan on making your own, you don’t have to use cardboard. Wood will do fine. This might actually make you feel better about the fact that something stronger and more durable is holding your books up. Not that the cardboard version is any less durable; according to its designer, it can hold up many books, too.

8. Circular Library Shelves

Complete with a lounge, this circular bookcase will surely be a hit in any library. If this were installed in my school library, I’d make a beeline for it daily. In fact, I’ll make sure that I’m sitting on it even before everyone else gets a chance to choose the book they want to read. Considering how well-designed this bookcase is, I’m sure the head librarian will want this in her office instead. We can’t blame her, really. This one is a must-have for any bookworm.

9. Round Sofa Bookshelves

This is a cross between the walking bookcase and the circular shelves above. Adding a cushion on the inner circle gives you a haven that is like no other. I assume that this will not wheel around like the walking bookcase, making it much more practical. Sure it will make you a bigger couch potato but who cares as long as you have your favourite books within arm’s reach. You can also use the shelves to store other things you hold dear. If you are inventive, you might modify this to fit a cooler where you can stash a few bottles of beer.

10. Pac-Man Bookcase

There is nothing groundbreaking about this design but it has be included in this list. You have a yellow Pac-Man shelf ready to gobble up a TV set. What could possibly be niftier than that? Nothing. Sure you probably cry for the loss of shelf space because of that gaping mouth but you have to focus on the big picture here. The big picture is that you have a bookcase that will make you smile every time you see it even if it doesn’t contain your favorite books!

What bookcase do you have at home? Which of these Circular Bookcases did you like the most? Do let us know in the comments below.