Book Decor.

It started with the new bookshelves in our living room.  We didn't have nearly enough books to fill them, so I started gathering good finds at the dump.  (For those of you who are new- we take our garbage to the local dump, and they have a swap shack there where you can leave items in good condition and pick up new finds, kind of like a free tag sale.  I'm not dumpster diving.)  I started picking up things we might read, but I also picked up popular titles and books with neat looking spines.  We planned to remove all the dust jackets, so a neat spine was important.

So we filled the bookcases, but it's hard to stop once you know you can get cool free books anytime you want.  So I've started using them as decor in different rooms.  A pile on the living room side table, a pile on the dining room banquet, one on either end of the mantel, a pile in the mudroom, one on the bedroom dresser.  And I love how they look, especially with other little finds surrounding them, and now they've become a theme in the house.  If I could get away with it, I'd probably make a pile that comes halfway up the wall.

How do you store your books?  Do you have any decor themes in your house?