IDEAS FOR 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 my freshman year because then I learned the bookstore buys back books. If you are holding onto those macroeconomics books here are a few ideas for used books.

I kept one textbook that sits on my built-in shelves in my office today. It is Strunk & White’s Elements of Style.

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This past summer my father-in-law gave me a collection of myMIL’s cookbooks. The cookbooks are from the late 1970s and early 1980s and include themes like How to Microwave Your Way to Dinner and 245 ground beef recipes.

And, as you can imagine the covers include bubble fonts and primary colors.

I love to keep the used books for nostalgia, but I am shallow enough that the primary book covers will clash with every room in my house. So I spent the summer researching how to repurpose used books.

Sidenote: Scroll to the bottom with the exception of displaying used books.

IDEAS FOR USED BOOKS

RESPECT THE BOOK

The goal is to change the book’s aesthetic while honoring the contents (and the owners) of the books.

So I found a few ways to honor my mother-in-law’s cookbooks and a few other favorites.

FIRST: SORT THROUGH ALL THE BOOKS

I dreaded this task, but it was a great way to sort through the children’s books and old textbooks in our house. I started with a box designated for Goodwill. The classics and my kids’ favorites were stored in their closets.

I had my eye on several of my husband’s management and finance books (they all had one thing in common). Keep reading.

From this process, I figured out what books to use in the decor and on the bookshelves.

BOOKS TO UPDATE

• hardback books
• small hardback books (the small conversational books you find at Hallmark & gift shops).
• similar shades of the same color on the book’s headband
• reference books

HOW TO UPDATE BOOKS

Now comes the fun part. Here are a few materials that I used to update all of these front and back covers.

• paint
• peel and stick wallpaper
• white shelf liner
• brown packing paper

PAINTED BOOKS

As soon as my 4″ roller hit the books’ cover I knew I loved it. I added the bow for the holidays.

PEEL & STICK WALLPAPER OR SHELF LINER

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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.

I think 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.

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