How to Accessorize With Books

For the bookworm, nothing represents comfort like an evening spent with a good book. Those who love books often manage to make them a part of their room's decor without really meaning to do so. However, if you're a book lover who also has a mind for interior decorating, make the book central to the decorating scheme of your room. By carefully combining some actual books with some book-inspired elements, you'll create a room that's as cozy as any that exist in your storybooks. Does this Spark an idea?

Instructions

1

Paint the walls of the room a vibrant color and then accent them with quotes from your favorite books written in script. Choose some hidden away areas such as the area above the door, on the backs of shelves or under the window seat.

2

Use alternative arrangements for your books on shelves to break up the visual line of the books. For example, stand some books on end so that the spines are vertical to the shelf. Place others in horizontal stacks. In the second arrangement, situate the largest and heaviest books on the bottom of the stack to ensure proper balance.

3

Include antique or faux antique books in a room that gravitates toward a traditional decorating style such as English Country.

4

Decorate your coffee table with coffee table books featuring vibrant colors and interesting pictures. Use this to show your interest in a hobby or a historical period or person.

5

Show off a collection of books by buying a glass-top coffee table. Place stacks of your favorite books on the shelf underneath the tabletop to add an extra decorative element.

6

Buy book-inspired furniture and accessories. Some types of tables exist that look like stacks of large books. The styles are many, including coffee table, nesting tables, book-shaped benches and lamps with book pedestals.

7

Create some book artwork. Pull the pages from old books that you find at your next library or second-hand store sale; books with yellowed pages provide you with an antique vibe. Draw pictures on the pages with charcoal or graphite pencils or paste dried, pressed flower petals on the pages of a botanically-related book. Frame the artwork and hang on a focal wall or use it to decorate the shelves of a built-in bookcase.

8

Place a large Bible or illustrated manual on a book stand and place the stand in a prominent place in the room such as at the end of the couch or in a corner by a window seat.