If you've been wanting to spice up your bookshelf or are looking for something book-related to do to get that "must buy more books" edge off, this is the perfect blog post for you! I will be writing them in order from easiest to hardest.
1 | Create Contrast
Space out your books and pick out your favorite hardbacks, specifically the ones with the most detailing. You can either create a Barnes and Nobles style shelf and intersperse these plain hardbacks in your shelf to create a cool effect or create a section of only dust cover-free hardbacks to create a focal point in your shelf without having to buy any more books! Your section could look a little like this (with naked hardbacks) and can be as big or small as you'd like, just depending on how many hardbacks you have and want to display.
2 | Create (more) Contrast!
You can also create contrast in your shelf by adding bookish trinkets/accessories/or decorations! One option is using these trinkets to separate your books by genre: for example, keeping all of your thriller themed books in one half of the shelf, then placing a small sculpture, and then on the other half, putting together a row of another genre of book! Also, you can lay your books horizontally, layer a few on each other and then place the trinket on top of them, to create a mini-shelf look to also garner attention and break up the continuity of the shelf!
3 | "Everything the light touches...is our kingdom"
A fun, but easy and hopefully cheap, idea is to add string or LED lights to your bookshelf. It can help set the mood for whatever you want to read and create a cool, magical, and dare I say, ethereal affect to your shelves.
All you would need to do for this is take out your books and secure LED light strips to the inside edges of your shelf.
Or, you don't take out your books at all, and just attach string lights in the space above your books! String lights also look beautiful strung on the outside of a bookshelf or trailing across the shelf separators! Pinterest has lots of ideas for light placement, and it should be an easy, 1-2 hour DIY.
4 | A new coat of .. paint?
An easy, but maybe more time consuming DIY is to paint the backs of your bookshelves. This DIY will look especially good on all white bookshelves to create a pop of color and create more visual interest! Also, you have so much freedom with this since you can paint it a plain color or create more elaborate designs and looks, like vines or even painting your favorite bookish scenes on the shelf! If you aren't a big fan of paint, however, another option would be to wallpaper the backs! This is really easy to do, usually inexpensive, and lets you pick something pre-made but still gorgeous!
5 | Book Nooks
Book nooks are the most fun and whimsical way to spice up a bookshelf! However, they can range from being incredibly complicated to being something you buy from etsy! Book Nooks are mini DIY doll house rooms in the rectangular shape of a hardback. They are hollow inside and let you decorate them however you want, you just place them in the middle of a bookshelf like you would any other book. Many places offer tutorials on how to make book nooks, but you can buy one if it seems too complicated!
6 | Book Crate Shelf
This hack is by-far the most complicated, but one of the most rewarding. Book-crate shelves are what they are named: 5-8 crates stacked on top of each other. You can either just stack them side by side, in more conservative alignments, without having to secure them, or you can create a true, tall shelf, by screwing and holding the crates together. You can watch youtube tutorials to see how to assemble these types of shelves and what specific materials you need to attach them together and keep the shelf secure.
This shelf is incredible because of how much freedom you get. In fact, you can take all of the hacks mentioned in this blog post and add them to your crate shelf in a sort of Frankenstein-esque project. Feel free to paint, sand, brighten, and even chip away at these crates to create your dream shelf. Also, if you choose not to attach each crate to the other, you can have fun by switching the layout of your crates around every few months! It can also be useful for easy moving or transportation.
