Get More Mileage From Your Coffee Table Books — as Decorating Elements
Take a page from resourceful decorators by using your gorgeous books in design-savvy ways around the home
Books are for reading, sure. But they are also for stacking, displaying, propping and arranging.
A stack of thick coffee table books is as essential in decorating as a vase or a throw pillow. They add color, texture, height and symmetry. They also offer a chance to show off your personality. Are you displaying a book about Chanel or World War II, nature photos or fabrics of the world? Your books say as much about your interests, taste and personality as your art.
And here's how to use them wisely.
A stack of thick coffee table books is as essential in decorating as a vase or a throw pillow. They add color, texture, height and symmetry. They also offer a chance to show off your personality. Are you displaying a book about Chanel or World War II, nature photos or fabrics of the world? Your books say as much about your interests, taste and personality as your art.
And here's how to use them wisely.
Here a stack of books helps achieve some height variation, so everything isn't just sitting there on the same plane.
Books as Art
Propped vertically instead of stacked, the book itself becomes a piece of art, as worthy of display as an art print. Make sure the books are interspersed with other shapes and colors to avoid looking like a museum bookshop.
Propped vertically instead of stacked, the book itself becomes a piece of art, as worthy of display as an art print. Make sure the books are interspersed with other shapes and colors to avoid looking like a museum bookshop.
These stacks of books benefit from the spotlighting as much as the art. Together they form a collection and a space that has much to tell about its owner's personality and preferences.
Books are so pretty, they are the subject of a painting.
Books for Color
The color of a book's jacket or spine can be essential to its roll. In my living room, bright pink and soft turquoise books bring out hits of those colors in other places. Here the books pick up the orange, pink and blue seen elsewhere in the vignette.
The color of a book's jacket or spine can be essential to its roll. In my living room, bright pink and soft turquoise books bring out hits of those colors in other places. Here the books pick up the orange, pink and blue seen elsewhere in the vignette.
The soft, feminine colors of this room are reflected in the book jackets.
Books as Furniture
The books in this packing-crate-turned-coffee-table are as much a part of the structure and look of the piece as the wood.
The books in this packing-crate-turned-coffee-table are as much a part of the structure and look of the piece as the wood.
A stack of sturdy books makes a fine occasional table.
Stacks and Stacks
A beautiful picture book should be looked at. Just as you wouldn't hide your most beautiful art in a closet, don't hide your most beautiful books on a bookshelf. Horizontal stacks like this add symmetry, color and texture. And you can actually look at them.
A beautiful picture book should be looked at. Just as you wouldn't hide your most beautiful art in a closet, don't hide your most beautiful books on a bookshelf. Horizontal stacks like this add symmetry, color and texture. And you can actually look at them.
This long row of stacked books is part of the design of this entire room.
Lovely.
Your turn: How do you display your most beautiful books? Please share a photo below!
More: Bring a Mini Library to Your Front Yard
Your turn: How do you display your most beautiful books? Please share a photo below!
More: Bring a Mini Library to Your Front Yard
A stack of colorful books on a flat surface is the perfect prop for the random item. Here it's a piece of coral. Notice how the color of the books is in tune with the colors of the room.