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Monday, March 05, 2012

DIY Pottery Barn/Restoration Hardware Books

A while ago I came across these book bundles from Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware:

Pottery Barn

Restoration Hardware
I think they were on their shelves a year or two ago, selling for about $30 a bundle. $30!!

I've been regretting selling almost all of my books when we moved last year. I love books but they're heavy! OK. Honestly, I love displaying books more than reading them... heh

I'm slowly starting to gather a new collection of "coffee table" books but their covers are what make them special so I'm not about to rip the covers off of them.

So for this project I headed to my local thrift shop. I'm planning on using bundles of these for my friend's wedding. The bride is a huge bookworm so I wanted to incorporate books into the centerpieces, not to mention: they're awesome!

Initially I dreamed of vintage hard cover classics like Pride and Prejudice but that's getting too pricey for the young couple's budget.
 
So even though the covers were going to be ripped off, I steered clear of the risque romance novels- the thrift stores are full of them! Thankfully I was at a Christian thrift store so they had a great selection of mainstream fiction, classics and Christian books. I got 19 books AND about 19 vases (for the lace candle holders) for $20. Score!

Life: Designed
Sorry for the blurry picture...

Even though it was just the cover, I was hesitant at first to rip them off! I've never ripped  a book in my life! But I did bite one once... As a child, I did some weird things to express my anger. One day I was so mad at one of my sisters that I took her Victoria Plum book and bit the cover so hard I left teeth marks. Haha...What the... Better than biting my sister I guess...

Life: Designed

Even with the cover ripped off, I couldn't have this title visible at the wedding! So I simply cut a piece of paper to size and wrapped some jute around the bundle.

Life: Designed
Done! This will look great (fingers crossed) with the lace candles and framed table numbers as centerpieces.

For displaying them at home, add a few more strings of jute to complete the look.

Life: Designed
You can forgo the jute if you don't like the look. Or, you can just recover your books with white paper as shown here below the jewelry box:



This way you can keep the original covers! Just make sure the paper is thick enough that the cover doesn't show through. I used a roll of white kraft paper from the art store. 

I love bundles/stacks of books! How about you?


5 comments:

  1. These look great! And what a great deal you got~! :D

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love displaying books! This is a great idea, thanks for sharing ;)

    Have a great day!

    Maria
    http://www.unidentifiedlifestyle.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've always loved this look, too! You did GREAT! XO, Aimee

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  4. Nancy.. Can I live in your room? Lol. Mine definitely need some of that TLC! Great job! I might start thinking about doing that.. My books are just piled on top of each other on my dresser.. No very pretty. Hehe.

    ReplyDelete
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