This is not a post about what I’ve been reading, or what’s even on my list. Today I’m talking about bookshelves, where most of us keep our books. Call me old school, but I like my books on shelves, where I can find a book to look something up, re-read a portion or the whole book, or find a volume to pass on to a friend. Although I sometimes read on my iPad or Kindle or even listen on audible, I prefer physical books. I have, therefore, always loved cruising library shelves.

At their best, bookshelves can be fairly revealing, highlighting hobbies, travels, professional and other interests. When the shelves hold family pictures, vacation souvenirs, and the like, they are just that much more interesting. I fall into this secondary category, staging favorite books (or at least those I am unwilling to part with) with a mashup of other collectibles. (Where else would I put those ironstone pitchers?)

I learned decades ago that books can be a powerful and profitable decorating tool when a good friend and I chaired a fund-raising book  sale. The sponsoring group was somewhat picky about what we sold (for example, no Readers Digest condensed books or textbooks). So as we collected and priced books, we set aside many that were deemed “unsaleable.” Much to our fund-raising delight we were able to sell them — by the pound — to a company that used them to fill shelves in restaurants, hotel lobbies, model homes, and so on. We laughingly referred to them as decorator dogs and made a tidy sum of money on them.

Refining bookshelf decor

But, these days books are a big decorative “thing” and you can derive some interesting impact depending on the display you choose. For example, you can just turn all your books backwards, so the spines face the back of the shelf and the muted tones and texture of the pages become a decorative element. Take this a step further and cover your books with a neutral fabric or paper. Same effect, different angle. Have you done either of these ?

If there’s a color story you want to tell, you can buy books-by-the-foot and colors on websites like Birch Lane and Chairish.

For years decorators have used old, leather-bound books to add history/charm/sophistication/warmth to bookshelves and do-it-yourselfers have adopted the same tricks. Take a look at this Instagram post from Farmhouseliving. ig. This home decorator bought volumes on Ebay, then shelved them vertically, horizontally and backwards to get a really unique decorative look. This may not be your idea of a book shelf or mine, but it took this homeowner/designer significant work and more than a little inspiration to achieve this look

And then there are old books with new covers. I found two companies —Booth and Williams and Juniper Books, and I’m sure there are more — that are happy to supply you with a planned collection, shelf, coffee table or even library display of books in a theme of your choice. Or, you can order custom book jackets to make your own books more appealing.  I am smitten with xxx’s collection of Jan Austen covers, below.

Or you can opt for a look to match the titles.

I’m a fairly simple girl; just keeping the books on shelves works for me. Okay, I sort fiction from non-fiction, and biography is a special designation (because it’s my favorite) and, yes, I do now shelve fiction alphabetically by author. Is that weird? I really just do that because I finally have most of our books in one place.

But the design geek in me thinks these other options for the “look” of books is pretty intriguing. What about you? Would you “design” a shelf or two of books just for one of these looks?