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3 Great ways to display books

Everyone loves a great book, but what do you do with your favorite reads after you’ve read them? Books can make an interesting addition to your decor and add an instant touch of comfort to your home. Keep reading for three ways you can put those books to use.

Colorful books on shelf

Whether you are an avid reader of fiction, literature, humor or chick lit, chances are you have acquired quite a collection of books over the years. Some people are interested in collecting books about a particular subject or books from a certain era in history. If you are a parent, you know how quickly children’s books can accumulate. Here are three great ways you can display your books, no matter what the subject.

Volumes of color

An interesting way to display books of any genre is to group them by color. This is especially impressive when you have a bookcase, a shelving unit or a library wall in your home. Begin by removing the paper dust jackets to reveal the actual book cover, then start sorting the books into general color categories like reds, blues and natural hues. With the dust jackets removed, the real beauty of the book shines through.

Once the books are sorted into color categories, decide how you want to group the colors. Do you want the blues to be mixed, or to be sorted from light blue to dark? When you are ready to replace the books on the shelves, alternate how you stand them on the shelves — some stacked, some standing upright. This brings visual interest not just to the color groupings, but to the books themselves.

Like minds

Grouping books together by category is a great way to display your favorites. Do you love cooking and collect cookbooks? Display stacks of cookbooks on a high shelf above your kitchen work area, on a buffet table in your dining room or next to your stand mixer. You can group them by type — think desserts or salads — or display interesting foreign cookbooks together.

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Bedford project table from Pottery Barn

Crafty types will easily collect a wide variety of craft books, which can be displayed nicely on the end shelving units of this Bedford project table ($1,100). Your craft books are right where you need them while working on a project, at the same time creating a nice display.

Children’s books can be displayed in groupings that are complemented by the addition of toys. Books about cars and trucks can be grouped with a toy dump truck for a bookend or horse stories can be displayed in a stack next to a favorite wooden horse.

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Stack it up

Who says books have to stand up? Sometimes the most interesting way to display books is to stack them on surfaces around your home. On a large coffee table, stack travel books with wonderful photographs or interesting trivia books that encourage guests to pick them up. If your bathroom has a theme, consider stacking some small books that fit the decor on a shelf, like books on shells for an ocean theme. Stacks of books around your house can be changed with the seasons to keep things interesting.

Books are not only great to read, but can add to your home decor.

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