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Decorating With Books #3: Looks Are Everything

May 12th, 2012 by Cindy Lee Bergersen

To Display With Panache: Go Wild And Crazy…


or at least have a plan,

or both.

Alternate realities include:

  • First things first: empty the shelves. Pull an interesting and relevant color from your existing color scheme. Use this to paint the backs of the bookcases or line them with paper. This will add an appealing color pop that helps incorporate the bookshelves into your decor in a way that looks planned. A patterned paper that has color(s) from your room looks great.
  • Clean up your act: Ripped dust jackets are as unsightly as (unplanned) ripped clothing. Unless the dust jacket has value for some reason, dump it. If it has value, it would be better to find someplace else to store safely. Sort the books by size and subject. Give some thought to which books you are more likely to want take down often and which are keepers but can be stored on the upper shelves….

Order is good. Scruffy book jackets (unless you are certain they are valuable) are not.


  • Speaking of dust jackets: See photo above. It’s a rainbow of organized thought, both inside the books and out. All one color can also work. Plain brown kraft paper or white butcher’s paper are cheap materials and easy to find.
  • Mix it up by alternating a vertical presentation with stacking books horizontally so the titles are easily read. Leave some open spaces for interesting objects and/or attractive boxes (great for extra storage). This is where using an interesting color on the back of the shelves becomes an inspired idea.

 

See what you are looking at: don’t substitute book clutter for object clutter. Edit ruthlessly.


  • Deep Storage: Shelves that are 16″ or more can hold two rows of books. Place one stack against the back side of the bookcase and another row along the front edge of the shelf. Use the front row for the taller books so the ones behind are hidden. Good solution for those books you’ve read but aren’t ready to part with.

For extra credit you can:

  • Lighten up: traditional library lights always look great. Some of them come with an adjustable arm to direct the light to the perfect spot. If mounting a light on a bookcase isn’t an option, look for industrial type “clamp-ons” to attach to the top or sides of the shelves. Small freestanding lamps are a beautiful touch if your shelves are open in the back so the cord can be taped so as not show.
  • Be off the wall. Hang a framed picture from the bookcase molding.

“Books are the best decoration,” declared Bill Baldwin. “Best of all, when you decorate with books, no room color is wrong.”

This is a fine example of a hedge position where no one loses…

Related Posts

Decorating With Books #2: Shelving Your Best Ideas

Decorating With Books #1: Why This Is A Good Idea

Small Space Solutions: Multi-Task Mantra

Household Clutter Control #1: Keep A Firm Grip On The Obvious

Bad Decorating #2: Dangers of No Design vs. Fake Solutions

Decor Aid: Where Do I Start?

 

Photo: creamylife.com

Questions? Write to: Cindy@DecodingDecor.com

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Decorating With Books 2#: Shelving Your Best Ideas

Mar 19th, 2012 by Cindy Lee Bergersen

Warmly comfortable rooms are made, not born

Building in shelves around doorways creates a book lover's dream

Your books and treasures make empty shelves speak volumes of

“Home Sweet Home”.

Union Organizing. Sometimes we keep books we’ve already read because we loved them and maybe we will read them again. Sometimes those stacks of unread publications serve as visual reminders of the wonderful mind trip they will provide, once we find the time. Sometimes we keep books for reference because knowledge is power, or at least access to a complete thought, if nothing else. To make your library the most user friendly, segregate the masses by category and location. Presto! A Carpe Diem Moment made easy.

Though I don’t have a coffee table, I have a lot of great designer monographs (i.e., coffee table books). These special books (well, to me anyway) live in a tall bookcase next to where I work and write, to easily access information for an article or a how-to reminder when I want to solve a design problem for a client.

Divide, Build and Conquer: While it’s obvious that you would want your cookbooks in the kitchen, or like me, want your reference books in your study, there might not be any space to display them unless you get creative.

Where can your collection go?

Look around your rooms for inspiration.

  • The usual suspect: If you have a lot of books, a whole wall of shelves for them is the classic solution. So too, is using one side of a wide hallway. It’s amazing how much storage you can get for only 8”-13” of floor space.

  • Things are looking up: A long running display shelf 12″ or more down from the ceiling, or near the top of the doorways solves a lot of problems in a cool looking way. Run the shelf across one wall, or all around the room. The shelf itself should be thick to ensure the wood won’t sag under the weight of the books or other objects you may want to mix in for display.
  • Storage opportunities waiting to happen: Empty nooks and crannies under a staircase, below an existing window seat, or in a seldom-used closet (remove the door) are genius. The spaces underneath window seats or banquettes are great places for mixing in your taller books, as regular seating height is roughly 18” high.
  • No jokes about Nooky allowed, but…no nooks? Make your own. Flank a window or a fireplace with bookshelves. If you have a blank wall to work with, create a nook with shelves over closed cabinets. Inside the new space, use a desk or love-seat to complete a study area or a quiet place to take time for a good read.

Your shelves, or the space between supports for long running shelves, should be less than 40 inches long to avoid the likelihood of sagging.

Good planning leads to good design solutions. How often have you ever complained of too much storage space? Keep this in mind when in the market for new or used furniture. Unless you actually need a tabletop with four legs, look for cabinets with shelves, drawers or doors.

Adequate free space for future acquisitions is the key to clutter control.

As far as a place for your books is concerned, bookshelves with adjustable shelves are preferable, otherwise very tall books will have to be laid flat to fit.

Words of wisdom: while you’re are figuring out when and where you will use/create shelf space, don’t store your books in an unventilated garage or dank basement for very long. They will begin to smell musty over time and might be damaged.

Next time: Decorating With Books #3: Looks Are Everything

Related Posts

Decorating With Books #1: Why This Is A Good Idea

Small Space Solutions: Multi-Task Mantra

Household Clutter Control #1: Keep A Firm Grip On The Obvious

Bad Decorating #2: Dangers of No Design vs. Fake Solutions

Decor Aid: Where Do I Start?

 

Photo: iamadomesticgoddess-acs.blogspot.com

Questions? Write to: Cindy@DecodingDecor.com


 



 

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Decorating With Books #1: Why This Is A Good Idea

Feb 15th, 2012 by Cindy Lee Bergersen

Designer Update:
Don’t be fooled by the E-Book Craze


Books and the bookcases that house them are an asset in any decor

Books and bookcases are not on  the verge of quaint obsolescence!

 

It doesn’t matter what design style you favor, enhancing your decor with books is an 0ption that shouldn’t be overlooked. Books are a reliable element that always works and can also bridge the divide between traditional and contemporary design in a warm and innately human way. They are an attractive addition in almost every room.

Every book is a mystery and an invitation.

If you find that books of any description seem to be self-propagating wherever you call home, you are in luck. All kinds of books are a good thing; picture books, reference books, novels and so on are valid bookshelf fodder.

Easy Does It. Incorporating books into your living spaces can be as easy as adding a pair of freestanding bookcases and can do wonders for a blah nondescript room. Another significant advantage is that Unfortunate Architecture can be minimized if bookcases are used for camouflage.

  • Use tall floor-to-ceiling units, long and low horizontal shelves and freestanding etageres where feasible. It’s a great way to add structure to a room and pizazz when artfully loaded with books and objet.
  • Surround a poorly placed door or window with books to create interest and symmetry.
  • Bookcases, particularly backless bookcases, make excellent room dividers too.

A room with a view of nothing much: always be mindful of where your eye lands first when you enter a room. It’s your first focal point and can’t be ignored.

If your first view of a room is a dead-end corner, or an unlovely radiator, you need a remedy.

  • Stacking books, along with “objet” and a vase of flowers on a tea or bar cart is a very charming option. Just fix it up, roll into place and you can feel justifiably clever.

Just laying around, constructively:

  • Piles of books stacked on various surfaces around a room add atmosphere, color and a certain sculptural presence.
  • Use a stack of books as a prop on a table along with whatever else fills out the vignette. This is a good way to raise an accessory to a better height. Good idea for raising a lamp to be relatively the same height as another lamp to create a pair.
  • Stack coffee table books under the four corners of a large piece of glass. Presto! A Coffee Table is created.

At last, coffee table books that live up to their name.

As bad as a fake tan gone orange. Nobody likes to be fooled. While home improvement zeal is commendable, fake books, even those boxes of leather bound “classics” you picked up at some yard sale (but will never read) are tacky. Book displays that exist only for the sake of ACCESSORIZING are bad as any other sneaky thing you may be tempted to do to service the DECORATION GODS. Be authentic. Your home is about you, as reflected in your choice of reading matter.

Rose Tarlow put it best: “An object added for effect instead of affection will always look like an affectation.”

Next Time: Decorating With Books #2 – Shelving Your Best Ideas

Related Posts

Small Space Solutions: Multi-Task Mantra

Household Clutter Control #1: Keep A Firm Grip On The Obvious

Bad Decorating #2: Dangers of No Design vs. Fake Solutions

Decor Aid: Where Do I Start?

 

Photo: http://vignettedesign.blogspot.com

Questions? Write to: Cindy@DecodingDecor.com

 


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