books need a pretty house, too.

I am a book nerd. my idea of a perfect date is to go to the biggest used book store in town, buy an armload, and then take them to a hole in the wall bar and read. I am lucky enough that Ethan also thinks books and beers make a pretty sweet combination, so I get to have my perfect date pretty dang often. As a result of the frequent book-buying, our shelves are getting pretty crowded. I've got two shelves that started life in my parent's house. They are huge, oak, and really, really, heavy. The above image is from May. notice that they were completely full at that time. full bookshelves+ never wanting to get rid of any + buying several books per month= unruly, unsafe piles.

I've decided that the next time we move (aka June), Salvation Army is going to have to do some heavy lifting and haul the big old bookshelves away. They are not terrible to look at, but they are REALLY heavy, and I can't buy another one for my expanding collection. There is also some water damage (hidden by placement). I am going to replace them with these:


And to make it look more awesome, I am going to paper the backs with this:


Not sure yet about black or white bookcases. but I am sure that the back will be lined with the most beautiful paper in the entire world.


Other options:


white and gold... makes me think of Liberace.


pink and gray large marbled. less wild than my turquoise choice and maybe more modern.

in a dining or living room:


plus

For someone a little fancier and girlier than I am, in a dining room.


The above, painted charcoal gray, bright green, or white, plus:

a sunny and preppy option

The best part is, if you used a non-permanent method of affixing the paper (like double-sided tape) then you could switch out the whole background for about $15 per bookcase. The paper is all archival-quality, sold in fairly large sheets, and ridiculously less expensive than if you were trying to buy actual wallpaper with a similar design. Plus, books traditionally have marbled paper in the inner binding, so It's extra fitting.


All of the furniture above was from Ikea. The paper is all from papermojo.com.