4 Ways to Decorate With Books

Posted October 20, 2017 by shooting in Product Review / 42 Comments

As you get older, things like decorating seem to become more exciting. I’ve found myself much more interested in changing up what I can, especially my bedroom. One thing that I love is anything related to books, including actual books, so I thought it might be fun to fill you all in on some fun ways you can use books to decorate around your house. If you’re looking for decorating ideas for your home, then definitely check out HavenlyΒ . They even have an area on their website where interior designers share unique decorating ideas!

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Now back to decorating with physical books!

  1. Color Code Living Room Shelves

If you’ve ever looked up ways to categorize your bookshelves, you’ve probably come across the rainbow method. This just means that all similarly colored book covers are grouped together and it looks really awesome once you’re finished. If you have a shelf in your living room that could use some decoration, I would suggest color coding some of your books. Perhaps the top has red books – and other similar items – and the middle has orange books – and on and on, utilizing the colors that work with your other decor. You don’t need to fill each shelf full of books – even just three red books sitting together would look really cool. You can use books you already own or go to a library book sale/used book store to search out books based on their color only.

2. Stack Books to Add Height to Rooms

Now this title might not make the most sense right now…but let me explain. I just recently went to a wedding where the middle of each table held stacked books with little plants sitting on top. It was such a cute idea that I think you could utilize this in your own home. Maybe you want to stack the books on your nightstand and add a small lamp or alarm clock on top. You can utilize a color scheme or just use your most favorite books that you want close by. This idea works on shelves or even a coffee table too! You could easily stack a couple books and place a coaster on top or a small bowl of potpourri.

3. Utilize Coffee Table Books

I love coffee table books! They are essentially any larger book – usually with a lot of pictures – that you can place out for people to flip through. Now you could definitely place these books on your actual coffee table, but you can switch it up a bit too! Put one in the middle of your kitchen table or on a kitchen counter – a little out of the way but still close enough for people to flip through as they eat. Another fun way to use these books is to place them outside. Make sure these are covered areas – porches or decks, or that you remember to bring them in at night if it isn’t a covered area. If you have a table, place a book or two out there and see who you find flipping through it!

4. Use Them as Simple Decoration

I was gifted one of those cute gift books – usually with fun photos, quotes, or something else easy to read – and instead of putting it away in my room, I placed it on top of a mantle in my living room. It stayed there until we started putting out decorations for fall and then Halloween, but I’m sure we’ll bring it back out again in the future. That’s my fourth and final idea idea for decorating with actual books. You don’t need to place them in a strategic pattern or color code anything if you don’t want. Find a favorite book, or something like my gift book with a cute design or photo on the front and place it somewhere where you can see it. This could be on a shelf, on top of a mantle or fireplace. You could even put it in a glass cabinet, the cover facing out so you can see it in the kitchen or living room. This could even be a fun beside table decoration. The sky’s the limit with this one!

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These are my 4 ways to decorate with books! Do you have any other ideas to share? Have you used books to decorate before? Please share! And don’t forget to check out Havenly if you need design ideas! The idea for this post came from them, but all words/thoughts are my own.

42 responses to “4 Ways to Decorate With Books

  1. RO

    These all sound like great ideas, but I want to try the color coded one, which sounds really unique and fun! Thanks for the tips and Happy Friday! Hugs…RO

  2. Books are the perfect accent for rooms – they are fun, and make the rooms feel lived in… but the service you mentioned – have you used them? They just seem odd to me.. but I’m all for book decorating

    • Hi Marissa- I love decorating with books! They do help a room feel more personal and lived in. As for Havenly, I have not personally used them myself but I have looked over their website and I like how they offer interior designer help based on your style.

      -Lauren

  3. What a fun post! Love the rainbow stacking method on a shelf… I’ve never heard of this before, but I’m sure it’s great visually. And the stacked books as a wedding centerpiece! What a novel (get it? groan…) idea! XOXO and thanks for sharing!

  4. If I had my way, our entire living room would be lined with bookshelves and tons of fun colorful books. Sadly, we don’t have the money to create the library of my dreams, but I can keep wishing!

  5. Awesome ideas, Lauren. I have used two of these ideas. I have a stack of black and white spine books on my mantle. I will switch the stack up with different colors according to the season. I haven’t thought of putting a lamp on top of a stack of books tho. That’s a good idea. I LOVE books so will always have them in my home in abundance (even in the digital age).

  6. My favorite way lately to decorate with books is to mod podge fabric onto them! These are books of course that aren’t worth anything. But, it really makes it easy to coordinate them and you can add a splash of color! I love your tips, too!!!

    Carrie
    curlycraftymom.com

  7. Jen

    If you are going to have them, well then you totally should decorate with them, right?! Great ideas! Right now my coffee table is decorated with kid’s Halloween books. That works right?

  8. Hello.

    Good day! I am also a book lover. It is my lifetime wish to have a room designated for just books. Like a little library inside my flat. Isn’t that cool? Haha. Thank you for the tips.

  9. I’d love to colour code my bookshelves, it looks really cool in other people’s photos. Alas, my bookshelves are SUCH a disaster it will never happen (I have major space issues lol)

    Wattle recently posted: Sunday Post #5
  10. This is such a great post! When I visited my friend last year, I noticed that she had organised her shelves according to colour and it looked so good, that I came back home and had to do mine the same! It looks so prettier! May have to check out some of the other suggestions you’ve recommended too! πŸ™‚

  11. I love the idea of decorating with books beyond just bookshelves. I always love seeing color coded bookshelves in other people’s homes (and on Pinterest/IG) I need to try it too!

  12. Angela

    Cute ideas! I would totally use books as like a centerpiece on a table, or even just stack them up on an end table.

  13. I love the idea of decorating with books! :]! I wanna try the color-coded one, although I’m not sure I have enough of each color to do that! πŸ˜›

  14. I love the look of color-coded books! I’m a big fan of decorating with books. I like to grab older books at used book sales to display. I especially love ones that have gold foil on the cover. πŸ™‚

  15. Great ideas! The space in our living room is limited, and I ended up crowding my small box shelves in a way that is not very visually appealing. Now I’m finishing my home office, and have more space for experimenting. I really like the idea of pairing books with plants, for example!

    Colour coding scares me a bit. I’m afraid I’d go nuts if I put together books from different genres or categories just for the sake of their similar colour. πŸ™‚

    Tiziana recently posted: The College Freshman Book Tag
  16. I love decorating with books. In fact at one point I had so many that the house was too cluttered so I turned them backwards. It looked so great.

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