Dear readers, please excuse the dust. We’ve been doing some renovations to our house over the last week, and between the saw dust and the paint fumes, it’s been a bit dirty and smelly around here. But I have a lovely bathroom and a beautiful kitchen now, so it’s been worth it. I’d like to tell you about something amazing I discovered when we were working on our kitchen. The space between two walls is just the width of a standard paperback book. Ponder the possibilities that unlocks for a moment.
We ripped out some cabinets in our kitchen which left a huge hole where they had been recessed into the wall. My original plan was just to put up new drywall and plaster over it, but then my brother-in-law suggested that we build shelves into the space. Brilliant! The picture here isn’t from my kitchen – we’re still finishing the trim – but it looks just like that.
So I now have shelves in my kitchen for my cookbooks which had been on a bookshelf in a different room and I’ve spent the last 24 hours staring at every wall in my house wondering which ones I could tear into to build more shelving. It’s also sent me on a tear around the internet looking for fun ways in which to incorporate books into your décor. Let me share with you a few favorites:
- Lots of people have books on their coffee table. Have you considered books as your coffee table?
- How about books as furniture?
- Or furniture that looks like books?
- How about a book staircase?
- Or this one?
- Or maybe this one?
- And finally, books as sculpture.
So dear readers, if you had an unlimited budget, how would you incorporate books into your décor? Feel free to post links to inspiration, because I’ve still got plenty of walls. And books.
As usual, one commenter gets a book of choice from our stacks.
There could be little bookshelves like that all over the house!!! The only problem is that someone has to dust them….
There’s definitely something to be said for the effect that books have on a room.
I’ve always wanted to make a shelf that ran along the top of my wall all the way around my house. Fill it with books. I would have a ceiling border of real books instead of the blueberry ivy wallpaper crap I have now.
I want a shelf exactly like that in my dining room. Actually I already sent the link for your post to my hubby/handyman.
I don’t really like the furniture idea, because i have to be able to read them or browse though them without knocking other things over. And all books have to be high enough that the dog can’t reach them.
We have a room in our house that has two very large wooden beams crossing the width at one end. It would be a perfect place to build a loft, or better yet – a loft library.
There would be a spiral staircase to access the upper area, and some kind of rail or wall to safely overlook the room below. I would line the loft walls with bookshelves (preferably built into the wall) and fill with all my books. The lower level would be for reading, with comfy chairs, a table or two, and some nice lamps to create a relaxing atmosphere. I’d even have a kids’ section on the lower level for their books, and a little place to read. Yup, big dreams!
Our lucky winner is ….Liz Pezzuto!
Please contact Justin within 5 days after contest ends.
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