Live in a tiny apartment? Here are 9 v cute bookshelves for small spaces to store your books in style

Book lovers, rejoice!

Bookshelves for small spaces - one white spinnable bookshelf in a living room, another rattan ladder bookshelf filled in living room
(Image credit: Walmart/Amazon)

I think the prerequisite for any writer is being utterly obsessed with words — and I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m the ultimate bookworm. Wiggle, wiggle, y’all! From saucy graffiti in toilet stalls to lengthy classics, I’ve read them all. And that’s why I also have an unhealthy amount of books in my apartment. But unfortunately, I’m a ~little~ shy of the $12 million I need for my dream home (complete with a giant water slide, candy room, and the cutest li’l reading nook), which is why my books were just in a giant pile on the floor — until recently. 

You see, I always thought that I couldn’t have a bookcase in my apartment. Giant, heavy things aren’t exactly renter-friendly, especially when your living room is also your bedroom! But it turns out that small-space bookshelves exist, and they’ve been designed specifically for small space dwellers like you and me. These bookshelves neatly fit in corners, they climb up your wall, and some of them even spin! And don’t worry, you should know by now that I haven’t chosen anything that will ruin your aesthetic. The only question you'll be asking is how to organize your books once your fancy new bookshelf arrives.

So, whether you’re a college student and need somewhere to organize all of your (ridiculously overpriced) school books in your teeny dorm or whether you’re just a bookworm looking for book storage in a tiny wormhole like me, these are some of the best bookshelves for small spaces. And if you can’t fill them, that’s just another excuse to buy more books… right? Right! 

9 of the best bookshelves for apartments, dorms, and other small spaces

Why you can trust Real Homes Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.

The prices below were correct at the time of publishing this article.

How do you fit a bookshelf in a small space?

Two words: dead space. Yep, without realizing it, many of us leave dead space in our homes. These are normally the corners and the walls, and we usually leave them free from decoration or furniture because they’re awkward shapes and sizes (and because our landlord refuses to let us drill anything into the wall). But these dead spaces are actually perfect for bookshelves, and it’s easier than ever to find corner bookshelves or even spine-style bookcases that sit flush against a corner wall. Plus, you can always try and fit floating shelves onto your wall with adhesive strips or hooks. Just be careful that you don’t put your heaviest books on these shelves!

How do I get the most space out of my bookshelf?

To gain a little more insight into this, I asked professional organizer and interior stylist Charlotte Sitton — aka @organisedbycharlotte —  how to make the most out of a bookshelf when you only have a small amount of space to work with. “If you measure the shelf, you could get some baskets to sit nicely so you can store smaller objects more effectively, and it could look much nicer than stuffing things on shelves,” she says. Sitton also notes that shelf dividers are “genius ways to get more from a shelf.” By using a shelf divider, you can use the bookshelf for more than your fave reads. The opportunities are endless, people. 

How we chose these bookshelves for small spaces

A lot of the products in this guide will be featured elsewhere on our site, and that’s because we only recommend products that are actually worth your hard-earned money. The products above have been picked either because the Real Homes team has tried and fallen in love with them ourselves, or because shoppers have rated them extremely highly online.

Where to buy a bookshelf for your small space

If you’re still searching for a bookshelf for your small space, don’t worry! See below for some of the best places to buy bookshelves from some of our favorite retailers.

Lauren Bradbury
Freelancer

Hey there! I'm Lauren, and I've been a writer now for over seven years (wow, that makes me feel old). During that time I've written about everything from celebrities to casino content, but nothing has made me "zing" quite as much as home and lifestyle pieces. I live in a beautiful Victorian terrace house in Kent with my husband and my naughty cocker spaniel puppy, and despite the leaking roof that we can't quite seem to fix, I've loved turning my house into a home. Sure, my eclectic mix of boho chic and maximalism sounds like a clashing nightmare, but it's MY clashing nightmare.