Beyond Books: Decorating Your Bookcase

Use your bookcases to display more than your treasured literature collection; take a cue from your rooms and books themselves to transform your bookcase from storage space to home accent. Showcase your knick knacks. We know that, in spite of their name, bookcases aren't strictly for storing books. If you're here, you've probably got more than a few piles of stuff cluttering your rooms. Bookcases offer an easy, one-stop sort of organization, but they don't stop there. Bookcases are both multi-functional and, in terms of style, multi-dimensional.

Don't feel compelled to cram your bookshelves from side to side; instead, break up rows of books by alternately stacking books from shelf to shelf and ending each row with decorative bookends. In the open space, display framed photographs, keepsakes, art, and hobby items. For example, hang your childrens hand-drawn originals and place bowls of fresh fruits next to cookbooks in a kitchen bookcase, or display chess or game sets, model trains, or baskets of yarn and knitting needles in a living room bookcase.

A corner bookcase in a hallway can serve to both provide a storage space and decorative element in an oft under-embellished part of a house; store extra blankets, soaps, and lotions there for easy, and pretty, access. Strategically placed candles in jars or votive holders are ornamental and functional in hallway bookcases; light them when company comes as a soft alternative to overhead lights.

Feel free, too, to use bookcase shelf space or tops as a place for plants; keep herbs in a kitchen bookcase and ferns or other vine plants in living room or study bookcases. Be sure to line shelves with protective coverings before placing plants, and remember to choose only plants that thrive in shade for darker corners of your bookcase.