John and I love books. What can we say. If Bibliophiles Anonymous existed, we'd have to join. We love going to bookstores not just to buy books and look at them, but to be around them. My first year of college, I took only a few books with me. Then when I went home for Christmas, I packed up 2 boxes full of my favorite books and shipped them to school, just to surround myself with a few more books. I didn't have a roommate second semester, so something(s) had to fill the void.
So it's no surprise that I love to decorate with books, which is part of my principle of using what you have to decorate. Almost every corner of our house fulfills this idea:
You get the picture.
Inside the front foyer of our house, there is a large ledge on the right side, which forms the ceiling of the bathroom and coat closet below. For months, this ledge was empty and thus drove me crazy, though the guests we had during this time didn't notice the ledge at all. About two months ago, we bought a trunk at an antique mall, so that sat on the ledge for a long time in a random fashion.
We finally acquired a ladder so that we can access the ledge and Decorate It with books (and other things), which we spent an hour today doing. John was a great help with details that I overlooked or didn't consider. (Yes, sometimes I miss details! Hard to believe!) The trunk is the only item on the ledge that we bought; everything else we already owned. And most of what's on the ledge is Authentic. (Translation: not a "new antique" from Pottery Barn, much as I love PB, no offense PB!)
This typewriter still works perfectly. It was used by my grandparents to type Christmas letters; labels for VHS tapes full of Murder She Wrote and Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman; and many other things. I have no idea how old it is. Possible 1930s or 40s?? There is no "1" key - you have to use the lowercase "L" for that.
This is what the ledge looks like, finished. The railing separates the ledge from the office in the loft. The rest of the items on the ledge, besides the trunk we bought, are from my other grandparents. The encyclopedia set was bought by my grandfather in the 1950s for about $150; when John boxed them up to bring home, we found the original receipt. The quilt was made by my great-grandmother (I think); the back of it was made from white sacks that held feed "for fattening hogs." Like many of us, its good side is showing, but the rest of it is completely falling apart. Don't worry - the quilt is beyond redemption, so it can safely collect dust in its new home (better there than hiding its light under a bushel in the linen closet).
2 comments:
Thanks for sharing your ideas and pictures! I love your ledge book decoration--I have a similar annoying ledge that I don't want to just put some fake plants on. I may have to steal your idea (but put my own twist on it!)
Thanks! We used old encyclopedias, but you can use any old books. Try to find old Reader's Digest Condensed Books. You can take off the dust jacket and use them that way. I see magazines that use RDC books on shelves all the time.
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