LOOK WHAT I DID WITH USED BOOKS
Raise your hand if your bookshelves include hard-covered college textbooks.
Raise your hand if you, like me, tossed your college textbooks into the dorm’s dumpster on the last day of class.
I only did that in my freshman year because I discovered the bookstore buys back books.
If you are holding onto those macroeconomics books, here are a few ideas for decorating with used books.
I kept one textbook, Strunk & White’s Elements of Style, which sits on the built-in shelves in my office today. And a copy of the Preppy Handbook!
Raise your hand if you have either of these classics!
This past summer, my father-in-law gave me a collection of my mother-in-law’s cookbooks.
The cookbooks date from the late 1970s and early 1980s.
My favorite titles of Ardie’s cookbook collection include How to Microwave Your Way to Dinner and 245 ground beef recipes.
This is everything you need to know about my mother-in-law and her cooking skills.
As you can imagine, the covers include bubble fonts and primary colors like orange, yellow, and red.
I love to keep the used books for nostalgia.
However, my Virgo and first-born traits mean I don’t want our library wall in the living room to be filled with books you would find in the children’s section at the library. With that said I am working on an ombre shelf with my kids’ classic childhood books!
Here are a few ideas for used books
IDEAS FOR USED BOOKS
RESPECT THE BOOK
The goal is to change the book’s aesthetic while honoring its contents (and original owners).
I found fun ways to honor the book’s history and my mother-in-law and make it look pretty on our library wall in the living room.
SORT THROUGH ALL THE BOOKS
I dreaded this task, but it was a great way to sort through the
- children’s books
- motivational books
- cookbooks,
- Vampire Diaries collection, and
- college textbooks in our house.
- I kept my Little House on the Prarie Collective Set in my daughter’s closet for safekeeping.
If I didn’t finish the book in college, it is unlikely I will finish it now.
I started with a box designated for Goodwill.
The classics and my kids’ favorites were stored in their closets ( for now).
I had my eye on several of my husband’s management and finance books (they all had one thing in common).
Almost every management or motivational book had shades of blue for their book jackets.
From this process, I figured out what books to use in the decor and on the bookshelves.
BOOKS TO ADD TO DECOR
- small hardback books (the small conversational books you find at Hallmark & gift shops).
- These books are fun to put out during the holidays because someone always wants to get out of an awkward conversation.
- hardback books with the same color scheme on the book’s jacket cover.
HOW TO UPDATE BOOKS
Now comes the fun part.
I used a few materials to update all of these front and back covers.
- paint
- Peel-and-stick wallpaper or vinyl sheets at Target or the Dollar-ish Store.
- white shelf liner
- brown packing paper ( a little more farmhouse, but brown covered packages are always fun!
PAINTED BOOKS
As soon as my 4″ roller hit the book’s cover, I knew I loved it. I added the bow for the holidays.
PEEL & STICK WALLPAPER OR SHELF LINER
Do you know the business theme books I pulled from my husband’s home office?
They all had a blue color palette. I reshelved these books with their spines facing toward the shelf. The edges of the jacket covers turn these books into an appealing focal point on the bookshelf.
And he has them if he needs to reference a chapter.
Tip: If you want a refresher on a book’s anatomy, start here.
Finally, here is how I used packing material with a dictionary
Such a fun twist.
These ideas honor the original and current owners. What do you think? Please pin if you have Pinterest boards.
Oh and that exception to displaying used books?
Realtor tip: If you are moving, do this with your books and repurpose them later.
I would love it if you signed up for the Weekend Edit. It is an easy, breezy Saturday morning read filled with tips and seasonal ideas. It is not written to read like a book. It is more like a rough draft of a People Magazine article!
Thank you for stopping by today/ Please share or pin to your Pinterest boards. Here are a few of my favorite Pinterest boards.
Cool ideas!