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I love watching shows on HGTV – I love watching the transformation of something that looks worn out and weary into something beautiful and refreshed. My favorite shows are the ones with really old houses that get a new lease on life, like Nicole Curtis’ “Rehab Addict” or Ben and Erin Napier’s “Home Town.”
In watching a lot of house renovation shows, I have seen several book decorating trends I do not enjoy. I think my main issue is the focus on aesthetics versus practicality. I’m a very practical person, so that always leads my decisions instead of how pretty something may look.
Without further ado, here are the top 3 offending book decorating trends for me:
Books displayed by pages instead of spine.
I watched a home reno show where the homeowner specially asked for a library room. (I’m on board with that! I hope to have one of my own someday. With a rolling ladder.) The room was painted in a moody forest green with brass accents and had several comfy chairs and couches for serious reading sessions. But my beef came in how the interior decorator staged the books in the room for the reveal. She had turned all the books so the spine faced the wall and the pages faced out. How in the world are you supposed to find any book you’re looking for if all the spines are facing away from you? I get that it looked seamless, but because of its complete lack of practicality, I can’t get on board with it. If I was that homeowner, I would have immediately started reorganizing my books in a different way as soon as the cameras left.
Books displayed by color of spine vs. alphabetical order.
I’m also not a huge fan of this display trend. It goes back to the ease of finding a particular book. If I have to remember which color a book is so I know to look in that color section, that’s just more information my brain has to hold onto. Exception: A friend recently show me a picture of her daughter’s bookcase (she’s under 5 years old), and it was arranged by color. That makes sense to me for a child because it does help her learn her colors, and it does seem like children associate color with objects more often than adults. In that situation, I think it makes sense.
Bookcases filled with a larger percentage of non-book items than books.
I also don’t enjoy it when bookcases have a larger portion of shelf space dedicated to decor and tchotchke than to actual books. In talking to lots of readers, we all agree that shelf space for books is always in high demand (never mind if we stopped buying books – we just need more shelves!). So, to take up valuable real estate with a pretty decoration just doesn’t make sense to me. (This image is a double offender – backwards books AND wasted shelf space.)
For those who also struggle with never having enough bookshelves, I have the perfect t-shirt for you.
What are your favorite (or least favorite) book decorating trends? Share in the comments!
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