6: Books
You don’t have to be a reader; you just have to look like one.
Antique books are a wonderful and inexpensive way to decorate. They don’t have to be old and they don’t even (all) have to be pretty… they just need to be placed well. Placement is key because it can easily look like you don’t pick up after yourself.
Personally, I like to organize books by color. It’s a great look either as part of a shelf display or out on a table. If your books are out on a table then you should match the color of the cover to your décor, but if they’re displayed on a shelf, it’s not as important.
Books can become one with your furniture. Three small books with a coaster on top make an end table more than dead space, or you can stack 10 – 15 more sizeable books and do away with the end table all together (You know, get craaaazy!)
On shelves, mixed in with your favorite photos, art and collectibles, books give the eye a place to rest. I like to mix them vertically and horizontally. A couple of books under a small ornament raises it into the middle of the shelf, displaying it more effectively; and a section of vertically stacked books distances one area from the next, making your shelves look well thought out rather than filed under “Boring!”
Read my lips: Coffee table books are a MUST. Clients of mine have flinched at the idea of spending $75 on a beautiful volume, but if you compare that with the $500 you might spend on a good vintage box they are definitely an inexpensive accessory!
Books soften everything around them. They make a home look lived in, and create a story in a room that invites people in: A book on a side table casts the image that somebody just got up from reading, and adds the sense of romance to a room that elevates it from simply being an empty space to the kind of place in which people want to dwell.
These lofty thoughts are brought to you courtesy of moi, and a little thing I like to call Redemptive Design.