Click here to see the bookshelves described below

Sitting surrounded by teetering towers of books, I occasionally wonder whether I truly need that study of British and Irish lighthouses. Could I spare my illustrated history of cutlery, or the step-by-step guide to building with cob? Perhaps it would be wise to restrain my book-buying habits until I’ve found a home for these strays – but no. The issue, I’ve now decided, is not the books but the bookcases.

When I moved in, they were exactly the right size and now, what with my weakness for, well, anything with pages, and my husband’s devotion to crime novels and cookery, they are comically inadequate. Every shelf has a double row and the piles on the floor are shooting up like Dubai skyscrapers. We don’t need fewer books, just more storage.

It turns out that there are two schools of thought on book husbandry; the systematic (ordered, alphabetical and shelved) and the organic (heaped in a designer mess). If you are a systematic type, you will make a “book management” plan before you move house, pinpointing issues such as how many you have, where you need them to be and what percentage growth per annum you are expecting. The real expert in putting this type of system into action is Domus, which constructs bespoke white lacquered storage units for every nook and cranny.

If, however, you favour the buy-as-you-go organic route to taming your collection, some of the most flexible options can be found at Store, a Chester-based company with an online shop. Simon Glanville, its managing director, sees storage as something of a movable feast; most of his furnishings can be adapted or augmented.

“My advice to customers is to think about freestanding or wall-mounted modular units that can adapt as their needs change over time,” he says. The Balance bookshelf, for instance, can be used against a wall or as a room divider, and can be combined with other shelving from the same range for extra capacity (£555; 0870 224 2660, www.aplaceforeverything.co.uk).

Like buying books themselves, shopping for storage can be a chance to invest in an icon. One of the best is the Isokon Penguin Donkey, which combines charming form with pared-back practicality. Less familiar, but still classic, is Vitsoe 606 Universal Shelving, designed in 1960 by Dieter Rams. The modular aluminium design has an industrial simplicity. Each system, which can range from a single shelf to a library’s worth, is tailored to the room, but can be taken with you and reconfigured when you move (from a few hundred pounds; 020 7935 4968, www.vitsoe.com).

Though they do a serious job, bookshelves don’t have to be restricted to sober up-and-down library lines. Dwell’s powder-coated steel and beech plywood Spiral shelving unfolds in waves across your wall (£79; 0845 675 9090, www.dwell.co.uk). Heal’s has Slide storage units: a low, L-shaped design, in oak or walnut veneer, that interlocks in a variety of shapes (£595; 0870 024 0780, www.heals.co.uk). And Ligne Roset’s lacquered Lines unit is a square frame filled with a tangle of crazily angled shelves and dividers, reminiscent of the “bird’s nest” Olympic stadium in Beijing (£1,860; 0870 777 7202, www.ligne-roset.co.uk ).

Storage opportunities come in many guises. If you prefer to keep your collection hidden away, try the large cream suede ottoman with padded seat from Dwell, which has plenty of room inside for a large stash of books (£125; details as above). The Holding Company has pretty printed metal boxes that can be stored under the bed (£45; 020 8445 2888, www.theholdingcompany.co.uk).

My form of bibliophilia is primarily satisfied by well-thumbed paperbacks and obscure textbooks, but buyers with an eye for the glossier end of the market – coffee-table tomes with fabulous photography and illustrations – demand a different form of display. The Pier has a coffee table made from slatted Chinese walnut, with space under the top for stowing a handful of favourites (£39; 0845 609 1234, www.pier.co.uk ).

The interior designer Fiona Barratt, who has dozens of coffee-table books on architecture and design, has found a clever way to turn her collection from clutter into art. She props favourite volumes on painted picture shelves in her living room, alongside photography and paintings – a wonderfully elegant solution and a fitting celebration of her passion for books.

All white from £1,500

For discreet, contemporary space-saving solutions, head to Domus. The London-based company, which constructs bespoke white lacquered shelving and storage units, specialises in building floating bookcases around doorframes. This sleek unit combines concealed storage with an open shelf for the coffee-table tomes you want to show off to guests. Domus; 0800 093 1043, www.domusfurniture.co.uk

Seat of learning £3,550

The Bibliochaise Home, by the Milan-based design company Nobobdy&Co, is the ultimate armchair library. It offers about 16ft of shelf space and is available in white, black or aubergine varnished wood. Its cotton cushions come with removable covers in shades from red to orange. It is easy to disassemble, pack up and rebuild if you move home. www.nobodyandco.it ; visit Nobody&Co at the Tent London design show, Truman Brewery, EC1, September 18-21 (www.tentlondon.co.uk )

In the fold £540

Somewhere between magazine rack and book stand, the Isokon Penguin Donkey, named for its four legs and two panniers, combines practicality and personality. Created in 1939 by the Austrian architect Egon Riss, the plywood unit quickly found an admirer in Allen Lane, head of Penguin books, who realised that the shelves were the perfect size for paperbacks. It is, of course, perfectly suitable for publishers other than Penguin – the P-word was inserted after a leafleting campaign to sell it to the imprint’s readers – although purists may disagree. Isokon Plus; 020 8994 7032, www.isokonplus.com

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