To me, it looks fake and gives me a feeling of fakeness. books are like peoples favotite songs, can't make them up. If you don't read much, or just don't keep books look for something you do connect with that also comes in colours, but something that says something about you, personal... Otherwise, to me, it's like decorating a garage with a Ferrari (that will never be driven)? ups! That happens too ;))

@houzz First off, your search engine is so dysfunctional and tedious that it almost renders your site useless...but I digress.

I have one word to describe designers who turn books backwards or organize by color: FIRED. Seriously, would you chop all the labels off someone's files, or label all their computer files "Untitled document"? Finding anything would be almost as difficult as using the Houzz search engine box.

People who allow their designers to turn all their books backwards might as well wear a T-shirt saying, "I have a dormant intellect". Why would you want people to think that about you?

I'm not against using books for design purposes, and I have a few coffee table books with nice covers that I use as art and to cover up a side table that has an ugly top. I have also purchased antique books because they had a beautiful gilded spine or cover. Most of my really old books are too fragile to be read anymore anyway, and so they are basically decor although I try to keep them out of dust and sunlight.

One of the huge design/storage challenges of my life has been bookshelves and book organization because I love books and I have a lot of them. I recently read the Marie Kondo book and just skipped over the chapter on getting rid of books.

As an experiment, I tried organizing just one section of the bookshelf, "Latin America" by color and then size, but it didn't look much better and I found it really irritating. In my mind and in the world, Honduras is always next to Nicaragua, Isabel Allende is between Peru and Chile, and "Cannery Row" is next to "Between Pacific Tides". Organizing by region has really added to the context of the fiction books while at the same time exposing holes in my education. Helen Caldicott sat alone on a shelf for a long time until she was joined by Phryne Fisher, a DVD copy of "Rabbit Proof Fence", and a book on Marsupials, all of which helped me make a decision to visit Australia.

Whereas a well placed set of vintage encyclopedias or classics that are all the same color could be used as decor, I would challenge any designer to avoid going to a bulk book sale to pick out anything "red" or "white" and instead find a subject matter that your client is interested in and get them a shelf of that. If that fails, you could use your design to inform your book choices. For example, maybe you are going with a southwestern theme and you get a set of books about deserts. You might just end up getting someone to read!

I do but I take the dust covers off so they're all black.

User7654321, enjoyed your post. 1. Google your Houzz searches, much higher success rate, just write Houzz in the question.

2. Did you come to Australia, what did you think of it? I live there.

To me, books are beautiful in their individual color, size, design and mostly in the stories and information contained in them. As a life-long learner, I love my books and display them neatly on shelves attached to a unit that houses my desk. Covering them with colored paper looks fake to me and contradicts my conception of the purpose of books.

If you are a reader and love books then yes, decorate away, by color, size, verticle or horizontal. Your home is a reflection of you. If you are not into books then definately no! It will not only look fake, it will be pretensious!!

I love books and am currently designing an in-stud bookcase for a room that is small but is lined with bookshelves, photos, art, collectibles! I'll post when it is complete.

As I read them, the dust covers come off. That's how I can brag about how many books I've read. Sadly, though, the 875 books on my kindle will never see my shelf. Not sure I'll actually have enough life left to read them. ;-)

I am an avid reader. These days I buy books for my tablet and then buy a hard copy later if I loved it. Otherwise my collection would get out of control.
Unlike many of the commenters, I like arranging my books by color. I'm terrible at remembering authors' names and I don't always recall the title of a book, but I can usually remember the cover (and size). I find I can locate a book much faster after I started organizing this way. I try to keep series together regardless of color of course.
I would never buy books just for decoration though. They're meant to be read.

I once decorated one of my room with books but after a while I realized that I never reread them, let alone step inside it. They are heavy and bulky. while it does show your character, it also hint of arrogance and snobbiness. Plus it makes moving a complete pain in the rear. After my first move I donated all my books and kept everything in ebooks. However, if you are already settled in and have a ton of books lying around, by all means! Keep in mind you also open yourselves up if you have an open bookcase. When I visit a house with a library, I would immediately know what type of person they are and what they are into. Not for the type of people who value their privacy, right?

You should display things you love, things that are meaningful to you and your family. I can't imagine buying books or any art objects just to fill space. I can't imagine having so much display space that you buy stuff just to fill it. So if you don't like to read (hard to imagine!) why buy books to display?-- display the things you love. Why pretend to be something you're not? Since I love to read, I love a big book- filled library with wood millwork and comfy chairs and a cozy fire and a glass of red wine...perfection!

Book displays should be personal and practical. Here I have displayed a few of my favorite books along with trinkets from friends and perfumes. The metal frame and flowers are a continuation of the soft and industrial decor in my home.

These books are perfect for decorating ;)

need to click on some:

Suitable for the coffee table ;)

For that pesky nightstand that needs some colour

Are you trying to have your unit look decorated or is this a library. I love using books but you need to mix them with other "stuff" if it is not a library! If it is a library you can get away it otherwise I think it looks silly,

It looks like displays I've seen at furniture stores.

I am a believer in only buying things that I need. Over the years I found that I did not need many of the books that I had collected as I could get them from the library and decided to pass almost all of my books along. So I don't use books to decorate except for a few my sons have given me and a few of my favorite "picture" books. I found that reading books makes me very happy but keeping the clutter of books made me unhappy. So do what makes you happy and not what a decorator tells you

Yes! Books! I don't understand knick knacks at all. Books are my friends that I can return to again and again. They're colorful and a useful way to add personality to your home. They give you something interesting to look at. Books add warmth and invite you to come in, sit down, put your feet up, and read awhile.

If you want to impress people don't buy those sets of leather bound classics. It's obvious when they've never been read. Esp if you take them down to flip through and the gold leaf cracks open!

Walls of books might as well be wallpaper. They are messy, smelly and dusty. Some books add warmth and a homey feel but I never saw the reason to keep a thousand books. Pass them on.

I have read mine.

"They are messy, smelly and dusty"

I have a couple of walls of books plus assorted bookcases (well over 1,000 volumes), and they are none of the above. They are arranged in order - fiction alphabetical by author, history by time period, etc. - and periodically dusted. If a book has a bad smell it's probably because of mildew, and our house is air conditioned in the summer. Books smell wonderful, actually. :-)

Books are beautiful pieces to display especially if they have meaning to the homeowner. I have books from my grandmother that have beautiful covers and bindings that are a joy to look at and share with others.

Books just being on a shelf in a bookcase, or coffee table books, or stacked on a side table, etc. are all decorative if you come to think of it.

To each their own! I prefer antique books. I love reading old books.

If you love to read books and have a book collection they are a wonderful way to enliven a space. If you don't read books collect and display something else you are passionate about.

Well, since no one but I still read "real" books, we might as well do something with them.

just out of curiosity what would make you think you are the only human being on this earth who reads REAL books?

Dear Damaton, You ARE NOT the only person that reads real books. Our numbers are legion. Just visit a local book store or large retailer like Target and visit the book department there you will find your fellow readers. Also, go to your local library. You'd be surprised at how full the parking lot is and how many real book readers you'll find inside the library itself.

it is sad perhaps he was/she was the only student in school that GOT THE LIST. who knows/ gee I wonder frankly if he/she was the only person who attended that class? where was everyone else? perhaps still on vacation? I do not mean to seem cruel I just was really shocked by the initial claims/comments from this person. I could not believe the audacity and absurdity that they spoke. my responses although may seem somewhat cold are merely out of response to what this person had the nerve to claim. reading REAL BOOKS can be a joy a pleasure a journey who would not desire some of that in their lives?

As a life-long book nerd who has moved countless times, I do not keep books unless they are references. I treasure the hours over my lifetime that were spent roaming bookstores and the winter weekends devouring my latest read. But I am not one to reminisce, there is always something in the now and the next. Most of my books are donated somewhere, I like to believe others might take interest in what I've been reading. The part of me that needs to remain organized (again, countless moves) can't reconcile displaying books as part of my "decor". I am now in my "forever home" and I have lovely vintage wall shelving that I haven't put up a year later. To me, art gets displayed, books belong in my office. And e-books are my new bff's.

damaton You aren't the one one who reads real books. I read real books. I also read books on my tablet. But I have several bookcases full of books that I have read and often reread. Even though I do read books on my tablet, it's not the only way I read books. I love the feel of book in my hands, I love turning the pages, and I love having a pretty bookmark to mark my place. I love books.

If you enjoy a well appointed home and you read actual books, then by all means display them tasteful. Please don't turn them backwards just to make a vignette on a shelf as seen on "Fixer Upper." And don't make colorful book jackets to match your sofa or add a pop of color.

I have some collectible books that I will not take the dust covers off of. I have 1st edition Out of Africa, Karen Blixen's collection of science fiction, a copy of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil before it was banned for a while, and an assortment of other real old books that I'm always afraid to touch. I won't even read them for fear of spilling something in them so I'll read them on my Kindle.

I love to read, and have too many books, but have never been interested in using them as decor, other than the few "coffee table" books on display.

frankly the word décor is a unique word. to be honest even frankly books sitting on a bookshelf could be considered décor. it is all in the way of how you choose to use what you have that I believe makes something décor...

décor comes from both latin and French meaning decorate.... the word décor basically means staging a room. so don't be frightened or concerned about this word being something all fancy it goes back to using what you have in the way you choose to use it.

I love my books - all of them! I find that it gives my space a warm, cozy feeling, and it adds color and personality. So to me, books are both a necessity and part of my decor.

"If I come to your house and you’ve done this to your books, I’m flipping over your coffee table. Because an upside-down table makes just as little sense as a book filed on the shelf, spine in."displaying books backwards are a sign of mental illness.

I keep many old books and I will continue to collect them.

I totally love books, but not as a decorative element. I don’t keep books long, and pass them on. For example the picture shown here of color blocked books makes my skin crawl. They are just a lot of dusty surfaces to clean!

I am an avid reader and I own every book I read, I do not however organize my books by color. They are all(mismatched) in my library and that's how I love it! To me house without books is like a body without a sole, but I would not decorate with books if I were not a reader...

Decorating with books should show you love reading and include ones you actually read or are important to you. Good friends. decorating color coded just shows they ARE only decorations taking up space. Turning them pages out makes NO sense at all. How do you find one? Turn them all until you find the one you want? Stupid. Design means nothing if there is no function.

If you’re not a dedicated reader, why pretend?

I don't believe in having books for decor proposes only, seems silly, books do accumulate dust, if you are not a great reader, or don't have a priced collection of books, why bother getting books just to serve as decoration? Now, about the coffee table book thing, why is this such a big thing? How many of those coffee table books get actually opened and looked through? I would like to see more examples of coffee table styling that don't use coffee table books, if you guys have any resources of examples, please share.

The first picture with color-coordinated books looks far too contrived.....like nobody in the house even looks at the books, buys them by the pound at garage sales and makes paper covers out of wordy wallpaper. Silly.

I downsized my library substantially about three plus years ago, from approximately 2500 books to 119. The overwhelming majority of them I do not miss, and if I ever want to reread one I can borrow it from the library. (I actually like knowing it has to go back on a certain date so it either gets read now or I return it unread.) Of those 119, all of them have some meaning to me in one way or another.

Unfortunately, I found during my purges that I did get rid of two that I still miss. One was a gorgeous small publisher coffee table book on Croatia that I got through being a design judge in a contest and the other was an old used hardcover on the French photography, Atget. Coming across this discussion re-ignited my passion for the latter and I finally gave in to my urge to own it again. It was $85 with tax and shipping but well worth it. When I move into my own home on March, I know exactly where it will go and I am happy. I may undertake a search for the other too.

Yanet, I have coffee table books. My grand children and I open them and read them. Not all at once. Not each one every time. But, they love to look at the pictures and we make up stories about the pictures!! And every time I look at those books, it makes me smile!!

I also switch them up, so the kids have no idea what book will be there!!

To each his own!

As for the question about "decorating" with books.....the best way to decorate is for yourself.

And to not judge what others do, because...who cares??