Sometimes it’s good to be The Decorologist – the nice people at Additik sent me a few samples so I could show my readers how they work!  I pulled out a few of the LACK tables I use in home staging – these are black, but they also come in birch, white, and red.

 IKEA LACK side tables – Before

The appliques from Additik arrived in the mail in these tubes. 

Additix Delivery

I was eager to see what kind of material they were made of and how durable they seemed.  The appliques were sturdier than I expected – not paper, but a more durable material that is washable with a wet sponge.  You simply peel back an edge to get started. 

Peel Additix Adhesives at Corner

They were really easy to apply.  The cool thing is that they are repositionable – so you really can’t mess up if you don’t get them lined up initially.

No stress – they’re easily repositionable

My daughter peeled the back as I positioned the applique and smoothed out any bubbles.

 Getting cute, huh?

Here’s the other one we did: 

 Pink Gingham Additix Applique

Wow, this was really easy.  And they look FABULOUS!

After – LACK tables with Additix Appliques

You know how many ways you can use these inexpensive LACK tables if you read my post here.   At less that $10 a piece, you could stack them like this to create a unique bookcase tower.

Think outside the box

Additik has lots of options and designs available for lots of popular IKEA furniture pieces, such as the LACK tables,  MALM dressers, EXPEDIT bookcases, BILLY and BESTA cabinets, LAIVA desk, and more.

Additix Adhesives for IKEA MALMA Dresser

They’ve got cute options for kids’ rooms and playrooms, too!

Additix Appliques for VIKA AMON table

One of the drawbacks to IKEA furniture is that it is so, well, impersonal.   Additik solves that problem – bigtime.

Additix Adhesives for IKEA LACK tables 

Although they are located in France, Additik delivers to the U.S.  The stickers cost $29 U.S. dollars for the LACK table size.  Yes, that is more than the table itself cost – but because the tables are so cheap, you can afford the stickers to upgrade and personalize your piece.  Come on, where else can you get such a fun side table for $40 total?

 Please check out the Additik website - you’re going to love their products!  And tell them The Decorologist said “Hey!”

There’s all kinds of ways to display and express yourself with books.  Books are art, don’t you agree?

This is one of my favorite images, probably because it incorporates 3 of my favorite things:  books, the color turquoise, and Anthropologie!

Experimenting with the way you display books can be an artistic statement – grouping by color always looks fabulous.

This is adorable – I am definitely creating a book Christmas tree next year, faux snow and all!

Kindle-schmindle.  Give me the REAL thing anyday.

Photo Credits:  DecOr, How About Orange, Julie Brainard, Apartment Therapy, Amused by Books.

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You can add a wallpapered back of cheap plywood to inject some personality of your own.

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Adding baskets and cubes makes it a great unit for storage in an office or playroom.

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IKEA offers a desk attachment, but you can use any desk to create a mini-office.  Just place it at a right angle to the Expedit – I’ve done this in several of my clients’ homes.

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In too-open open floor plans, the IKEA Expedit is a great solution when you need a little separation.

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You can even paint the interior cubes different colors to highlight the contents or add interest in a child’s room or playroom.

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You can obviously use them in multiples to create a whole wall of shelves, but you can also stack them where ceilings are soaring.  As a Nashville based interior decorator, it’s my job to find ways for my clients to use great bargains like these and still have a designer look:

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Do you have any other ideas for the Expedit bookcases?    Click here for my post on the many ways to use IKEA’s Lack side tables, and make sure to subscribe to The Decorologist for more ideas on decorating on a budget.

In a modern home, use color sparingly but boldly – like a field of color on one wall to draw the eye to an unexpected space.   If you do this kind of color block technique, make sure you want to be accenting whatever you are accenting.  In this picture from coccozy, they are actually TRYING to draw the eye to the flat screen television, but that isn’t usually the case.

Hey, don’t be afraid to place furniture against bookcases.  Use a large wall of bookcases as a headboard for your bed, or place a sofa or buffet table up against them.  If Annie Brahler can do it you can, too!

Even in a small bedroom, a canopy or mosquito netting creates a “room within a room” and draws the eye up into the typically unoccupied space in the air.  And draping your bed with fabric “walls” can spice up your lovelife, as well!

Do as the English do:  stack pictures and artwork all the way up your walls – not only does this draw the eye up, but it gives even a small space lots of places for the eye to bounce around and enjoy.  This office space from Domino magazine is fabulous on so many levels . . .  I must do a blog article about feminine office spaces!

Have a few really nice furniture pieces?  Then edit, edit, edit.  That special chair or table takes center stage when clutter is abolished.

What if you don’t have a few really nice pieces?  For less than perfect furniture, clutter offers convenient camouflage. Decorating for profusion instead of spareness is a different kind of editing.  Filling a room with objects can be very provocative and cozy, especially if the objects are variations on a theme.  For example, hang botanical prints in multiples.  Quantity can be as captivating as quality.   Here’s an example of  colorful profusion.  It’s fresh, young, a little crazy.  If you like it, who cares!  It’s your home, your expression.

When I started out housekeeping (wow,  that sounds like something my mom would say), I didn’t have many nice things.  So I bought lots of inexpensive things that I was drawn to from yard sales, flea markets, antique malls, and clearance racks.  At that point in time, I decorated for profusion!  When I slowly acquired a few nicer things, the process of artful editing began.  I sold many of those “starter” items, which enabled me to save up for nicer ones.  Now, I have much less clutter and fewer collections – but what I did keep I truly love and believe to be beautiful.

A few final thoughts:  Are you an artist?  Then where better to showcase your art but in your own home?  Have a crazy collection stored away?  Bring it out into the light and celebrate whatever it is you love!

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You can stack things to make a bookcase, you know.  Crates, boxes, even benches and tables.  Check out this crafty bookcase from Better Homes and Gardens.

How about this bizarro but oddly cool resuse of old furniture by designer Isabel Quiroga?  I don’t love the bottom part so much, but the upper part is very interesting.  You could definitely stack different shapes and sizes of console tables and unite the look with a common paint color.

This idea is out of Country Living.  Take an old dresser and pull out the drawers.

A little paint, a few screws, a little leftover wallpaper, and  . . . . .

Now THAT’S a custom bookcase!

What about looking at hutches and other kinds of furniture pieces with a new perspective?  Lots of things can hold books, even if the original intention was china or clothes storage.

Hey, you can even create a Scooby-Doo secret door by creating a faux bookcase on a closet or bathroom door like this fella did on Apartment Therapy.

These invisible bookshelves are very modern and work by using  an innovative concealed bracket.  When you mount the bracket to the wall, you slide the shelf between the back cover of one book, stack the rest on top to completely cover, and tah-dah – invisible bookshelf!  Magic is good.

You’ve got to see this hobbit-like creation called the Uroko bookcase by Point Architects.  Unbelievable.  Wonder if I could talk my hubby into attempting something like this in the girls’ rooms?

You could just stack your books up the side of a staircase.  Probably not the best idea if you have small children.  I can only imagine the mayhem that might ensue . . .

I saved the best for last.  Hank Moody is a writer for the HBO series, Californication.   He created this fantastical stack of books in his living room.  I can’t get over this.  Really makes me want to create a version of this.

Now THAT’S magic.  Are you inspired?

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I have collected vintage children’s books for many years before I ever had children.  The cover colors and artwork are amazing.  But even new books look better if you take off those glossy covers!  Hardback covers are typically blues, greens, browns, blacks, and reds. – so they are easy to group to make a color statement.  Vintage books have the most beautifully illustrated covers and fonts – and many original vintage bookcovers are amazing as well – they are the only ones I don’t strip off!   Any vignette is improved with the addition of a stack of books. 

Here are some thoughts about decorating bookcases:

• Don’t just use bookcases for books – and don’t put all your books in bookcases. Use books on tables, mantels, etc.
• Stack books, turn them sideways, use them to elevate other objects.
• Hang artwork on exterior frame of a bookcase.
• Paint or wallpaper backs of bookcases, curios, or cabinets.
• As a rule, larger books and items go at the bottom of a bookcase.
• Use a zig-zag formation in bookcases.   Then fill in with interesting accessories.
• Accessories in bookcases can include small pictures, lamps, large shells, art objects, pottery, framed photos, vases, etc.

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Photo Credits:  The Decorologist (formerly StoneBrook Staging).