We have a shelf near our front door which are quick-grab games. They are games that are good to teach new gamers, still strong for regular gamers, visually pretty/interesting, plays in under an hour typically. Basically a "we're going to a party, let's bring a game or two in case anyone wants to play" games. Intro/entry level things like Red Tavern Inn, Carcassonne, Azul, Splendor, Lanterns, etc. We keep a folded bag there that fits standard games and can fit 2-3 games in it.
Our rightmost living room shelf has one shelf which is two player games, primarily. So it has our Jaipur, Kodama Duo, Akrotiri, One Deck Dungeon, Star Realms, Jambo, Patchwork, etc Next shelf is current favorite games, ones we're pulling out a lot right now, like Terraforming Mars, various Tim Fowers games (Hardback, Paperback, Now Boarding, Burgle Bros), Roll for the Galaxy, Broom Service, to name a few.
The leftmost middle shelf has a batch of co-ops (Pandemic Season 2, Aeon's End, Shadowrun Crossfire, Xenoshyft, Flash Point Fire Rescue, etc), the top shelf and highest shelf are our chewiest games--games that take 2+ hours total including set up and play. Gloomhaven, Mechs vs. Minions, Arkham Horror, City of Kings, Mansions of Madness, etc live here. Our Legendaries live up here, too.
There is a lower shelf which has some obscure games we don't play as much, but are pretty easy to get into. A lot of random Kickstarters land here for us, like Einstein, Tesla vs. Edison (both editions), Minerva, Mr. Cabbagehead's Garden, Outlive.
The shelf near the TV are games we love which fit the form factor. LOL No seriously, the top shelf is pretty much all standard 12X12 boxes, like Escape The Curse of the Temple, Castles of Mad King Ludwig, Above & Below, Android Netrunner, etc. Below that is common rectangular form factors, like Saint Malo, San Juan, Castles of Burgundy, Broom Service, etc.
Inside the TV stand: on the top are smaller card games and pub games, like Roll For It, Nightmarium, The Game, Tiny Epic _____, Herbaceous, Fairy Tale, etc. Below that are the rest of the Pandemics and Flash Points (Iberia, Cthulu, expansions), Elder Sign and all expansions, and a large collection of CAH and expansions (gathering dust, not because we eschew it, but because we have a lot more gamer friends into chunkier games now).
Then the basement is everything else. Lots of games we haven't even opened yet, games we played out and need a break, games we have boxed up to see if they are ready to be given away/sold or not.
And then there is this awkward stack of games on a side table in the living room that we haven't taken to the basement, don't have room on the shelves in the living room, but are playing off and on right now. We don't know where they will land until we know how much we like them.
The system has zero precision, but it works for us because if we know player count, table size, play length, and mood/style of game, we have an idea where to look.
