The Complexity of Decorating with Books
by Joey Pebble

Description: Expert tips for incorporating your taste in books into your home decor.

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Visually a book is just a simple square or rectangle. It might have some interesting cover art, and the wording on the spine might be cleverly laid out, but in general it is not a terribly imposing piece of your homes décor.

However a book has much more symbolic importance than its unassuming appearance would suggest. That is because the thoughts, the feelings, and the ideas contained within its pages can be infinite in breadth and scope, giving it limitless power to evoke opinions in other people. A simple square book can have the ability offend, or inspire with nothing more than a title written in white.

Some people decorate with books by accident. They simply read whatever they want to, and while they read it, they leave it out. Then when they are done they store the book away on a shelf or in a bin, and suddenly it becomes a semi-permanent piece of their homes décor. This is a totally natural thing, and it makes an honest declaration of your own personality to anyone who enters your home. There is no pretension, this is simply what you like to read; it is in essence who you are.

However if you do not realize the message that your books are sending you are missing out on a subtle but powerful element which you can use in decorating your home. Books say something about a space, and about the person who inhabits that space. In many ways more powerful than a painting or decorative accessory, which lands lightly on the eyes once or twice a day and then is forgotten; a book is a process which you are involved in for a set period of time. When you read your eyes, mind, and imagination are all engaged with the book, in an absorbing way it beams thoughts and ideas directly into your mind. And when you are done, you are changed a little bit, altered in an almost imperceptible way.

All of that exists behind the cover of any book which you place in your environment. What is more, the people you invite into your home understand this, and so judge you even more closely based on the books that you keep around you.

That is not to say that you should start reading only those books which will impress other people. A lie, even in decorative terms, will always make you uncomfortable. Instead you should take a balanced approach to literature. Let your own tastes guide you, but remember that if there is a book that you wouldn't want others to see you reading, there might be a reason why.

Once you understand what your books mean, it is time to get into the nitty-gritty act of actually using them to decorate. The way you display your books also says a lot about the way you think, since each book is a building block of thought. A home that is overrun with wobbly mismatched stacks of books will bring to mind thoughts of the absent minded professor, while a neatly lined anthology of matched books stored in a sharp bookcase, will bring up thoughts of a precise and powerful personality.

One of the great things about books and magazines is that they can be left scattered in seemingly random places, without necessarily implying clutter. Think about a coffee table book. A publication is left randomly in the public room, sitting unsorted on the table. It might be tightly aligned, but it is still there with seaming randomness, and yet it is not out of place. The very function of a book allows you to leave them almost anywhere people are, because it will give those people something to do.

If you are a real book lover, you might consider carving a library out of a whole room in your home. If space doesn't allow, you can develop a library niche in the corner of another room. Just line up shelves against the corners of a room, and line them ceiling to floor with your favorite tomes. This will act to dress up the space, without overwhelming it, leaving plenty of room to move around and live.

Books are a powerful and subtle decorating tool that allows you to demonstrate how you think and feel about the world around you. Even if you don't use any of these strategic decorating tips and just continue to read whatever you like, at least you will know the understated meanings behind the various accessories in your home.

This article on "The Complexity of Decorating with Books" was provided by PebbleZ Design's line of unique stone beverage coasters , and was written by Joey Pebble, a natural stone artist and author of a variety of decorating guides.

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