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I love them because they reflect who I am – and that’s what home decorating is all about to me.  So I love bookcases and shelving that make it easy to display my lovely tomes.  Like CB2′s Array bookshelves. 

CB2′s Array Bookshelves

You can stack them on your own, but the Array keeps them from toppling over.  And you don’t have to tear apart the whole stack to get to the book you want.

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Stacked books are like beautiful sculptures, and real in-your-hand books may be rare works of art in the near-future.

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For more ideas on how to decorate with books, look here or here.   I even put them in my fireplace here.  You got any unusual ideas of how to decorate with books?

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.

I saved the best for last:  my Euro Trash girl, Annie Brahler’s home!

Photo Credits:  Elle Decor , Martha Stewart, Apartment Therapy, Eileen Evans (4-6),   EuroTrash.

Here’s my most recent example.  A few weeks ago, this was the vignette on the table in the entry to my house.  I love grouping vintage books by color, and pink is a hard color to come by.  I love the children’s book on top, The Pink Motel.   But it’s obviously a bit worn, torn, and dirty.   I usually don’t display books in this condition – I like to have clean, functional pieces in my collections.  But I really love the pink cover, the title, and the illustrations on the cover.

So I stopped by a yard sale recently, and came upon this for $1!  It was The  Pink Motel in perfect condition – even with the original paper cover!

So now I had a dilemma:  should I just get rid of my old copy?  I love the exposed hardback cover, but now I see that I love the art and colors on the original paper cover.  Hmmmmm . . .

I took the paper cover off the nicer copy and put it on the ragged copy.  Now the nicer copy sits atop my stack on the entry table.  And the paper cover is now on the ragged copy, which I am displaying elsewhere.  This may seem silly to you, but these kind of little things really make my day.

When I was pregnant with my first child, I was determined to recreate a sweet part of my childhood and started buying original Fisher Price Little People buildings on Ebay.

One night I dreamed I went to a yard sale and found a Fisher Price School House and Airport sitting on a blanket spread out on the ground.  Next weekend I went yard saling with my friend, Cathy.  As I parked the car and walked across the street, I saw before me a Fisher Price School House and Fire House sitting on a blanket spread out on the ground.   OK, in my dream it was the Airport and not the Fire House, but in real life I already had the Airport and needed the Fire House!

I about had a fit right then and there and totally made a fool of myself as I tried to explain this dream to the yard sale lady who then gave me an inflated price on the items, quickly realizing I would probably pay too much for them since I dreamed about them (and because I was probably crazy!).

All this to say, great things happen to me at yard sales.  Seemingly small, but great things. I’ve come to think of these things as little presents from Jesus.  Who else knows the secret, silly desires in my heart and sets them in front of me?  This mindset has helped me open my eyes to potential blessings in unexpected places and situations.  I just don’t believe in coincidences anymore!  Especially when it comes to yard sales .

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I love Anthropologie.   I guess it’s the vintage-hip-bohemian vibe that draws me in.  Now, don’t get me wrong.  It’s not like I buy anything there except for the occasional little decor trinket.  The clothes are way too expensive for me, but I get so much decor and fashion inspiration by just perusing that store.  We’ll just focus on the decor inspiration for today, particularly in regards to Christmas styling.

Is that vintage wallpaper snippets in the back of the handmade fireplace box and in the back of the shelf niche?   Why, I think it is!

You could totally make your own version of these candles-in-teacups with vintage teacups or mugs and some crafty wax candle kit from Michaels.  Great teacher gifts for Christmas!  These from Anthropologie are around $10 a piece.

These tea towels are $18 and can be used in the kitchen, of course, but why not use them in the guest bathroom?

Just look at the details – the embroidery, the color combinations, the textures, the trim!  I could base an entire child’s bedroom scheme around one of these beauties.

I fell in LOVE with this snowy vignette in the Green Hills Anthropologie store.  After snapping these pics, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.  The next day, I decided I’d try to apply the inspiration to my own holiday decor.

Anthropologie sells the old-fashioned sparkly snow for $10 a box.   Love the retro graphics on the box, but I really didn’t want to spend $10 on fake snow.

Among my Christmas decor that I wasn’t currently using I found a bag of sparkling snow that I had bought at Big Lots for about a dollar several years ago.  Perfect!  I gathered some large vintage children’s storybooks, a pink retro Christmas tree, and small fake mini- trees and started to create my own vignette on the top of a piece of furniture in my dining room.   I decided to forgo the globes – I’m not a COMPLETE copycat!

I think the trick is sprinkling the snow from above so that it lays on the tops of your landscape:  the tree limbs, the tops of the books, in the glasses – and then letting it pile up all around your items, like real snow does.

I’ll take inspiration wherever I can get it.  How about you?

Don’t forget about my December Prize Give-Away!  For your chance to win a set of 5 IKEA votive candleholders, make sure you sign up to “Receive Email Updates” in the upper right hand corner of this blog.

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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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Determine the number and size of items that are appropriate for the space/table size.  Pare down items to an odd number.

If you use one item on a table, go with something big and bold.  Think fat and wide rather than tall and skinny.

Easy formula for tablescaping:  plant material, books, and a decorative object.

Use trays or baskets to corral small items.  Tablescaped items should be grouped somewhat closely together, making a cohesive visual story.

Group by theme and/or color.  Using items of the same color always looks more unified and less cluttered.  Try using shades of just one color, but different textures and sizes.   Possible themes include seasonal/holiday, nature, collections, etc.

Create peaks and valleys in your tablescape.   Vary sizes.  Use books, pedestals, cake stands to elevate objects.  Start with largest, tallest item (peak).  If against a wall, tallest in back.  If floating in room, tallest in middle or somewhat offset from middle.  Work forward or out, smallest (shortest) in front.

Use glass bowls or vases filled with fruit, rocks, shells, or flowers.  Use ornaments in vases grouped by color to use any time of the year.

Use branches, greenery, flowers from your yard. Experiment and you’ll quickly see what lasts longest.

Use plate stands for plates, small pictures, and/or books.  Use a basket or glass container to hold shells, fruit, vintage buttons, etc.

I’d love to see examples of your own tablescapes!  Email yours to me at kristiebarnett@yahoo.com and maybe I’ll do a post featuring your creative designs.

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She lives in the most amazing home I have ever seen.  Annie lives in Jacksonville, Illinois.   Doesn’t sound like a terribly exciting place, but check out this unbelievable Beau Arts home!!!  She lives here with her 3 perfect children, 2 perfect dogs, and presumably, her perfect husband.  She certainly has a perfect lawn care guy.

She is a huge inspiration for me in the way that she chooses to decorate and live.  Annie calls her style Euro Trash.  It’s kinda like European Shabby Chic, but with more color.  It’s fabulous, glamorous, and magical.

This is Annie’s dining room!  Soak it up.  Nothing else I can say.  European glam at it’s best.  Is she a princess, or what???

Check out Annie’s website to find out about all the fabulous antiques she ships over to sell from Belgium and the Netherlands.  http://www.euro-trash.us/

On her website, Annie Brahler shares the following decorating advice:

“Look To Nature for Embellishments -  When you want to add some interest to a room, just take a quick walk outside.  Candles are held in place with leaves picked fresh and left to dry to a beautiful color that only nature can offer.  A gnarled dried branch becomes a tactical sculpture in a winter kitchen along with artichokes left to dry and enjoy for the beautiful floral shape they have to offer”.

“Always Welcome the Unexpected – A bit of indulgent elegance in a strictly functional space can lift the spirits. I love fresh flowers on a shelf inside my closet, a dramatic chandelier in the bathroom and silk draperies that puddle on the floor in my daughter’s bedroom”.

“Open Up – Open shelving is a wonderful way to enjoy the things you love everyday…display things you need in close reach right along with the bits you enjoy just for the color, shape, or texture that they possess.   Books in the same tones as your display are a great way to elevate your special things to present them. The shelves themselves can be given interest by giving them soft curves, or arranging them in a series of vertical and horizontal lines rather than the traditional stacked shelving….we also like to paint, stain, or upholster the interior of cabinets to give them a bit of an unexpected touch of special attention…it is always a ittle uplifting to reach for a sweater inside an armoire with a softly padded silk interior…”

Annie says that her Dutch heritage is an inspiration in the way she raises her children and lives in her home.  Children (and dogs) are very much welcome and appreciated everywhere in the Netherlands and she feels that way, too.

I’m always encouraging clients to make their rooms more functional, more beautiful, and more “them.”  This is a great example of taking an underused room and making it highly useful and true to the homeowner’s interests.  These homeowners are true bibliophiles (that means they’re readers ).  But all their books and bookcases were stuffed into a guest bedroom.  It made perfect sense to bring the books into the place they actually lived – or should I say, now actually live.  This room had little function for them before, except to hold hand-me-down furniture that didn’t reflect their own tastes.

Here’s the before:

After clearing the room, we dragged down the bookcases from the guest room and lined adjoining walls with them to create some coziness.  We really didn’t have quite enough bookcases, so we left space for artwork and topped the area with a single board.  I knew we needed a modern table and chairs.  I found the Saarinen-ish tulip table at IKEA, and the blue and metal chairs at a local consignment furniture store.  When the new room came together, the personality of the room was a much better reflection of the personality of the homeowners.

Here’s the after:

This is the perfect place to read the newspaper and have a morning cup of coffee and a bagel.  Or check email and read a novel.  Or do homework or freelance writing or whatever.  Or have an intimate meal by candlelight.   Or park the hor dourves for guests at an informal party.  What would be the perfect centerpiece on this table?  A stack of books, of course.

How’s this for a bonus?  Here’s the Before/After of the opposite side of the room.  I basically flipped the living room and dining room in this rectangular space.

Before: 

And here’s the after:

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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).