Everyone loves a good book, and if you’re an avid book collector or reader, you may be stuck on how you can showcase your collection. Decorating with books allows you to add your personality into a space. With different colors, textures, and sizes, the possibilities of styling your home with them are endless. To help you get inspired, we’ve gathered some of the best book decorating tips and tricks from experts from San Francisco, CA to Boston, MAto give your treasured collection the attention it deserves.

1) Group books into a stylish yet functional system

Organize books by subject matter. Since my design books are usually the biggest and tallest, I group them together at the bottom of my bookshelf. Next comes gardening, cooking, travel, followed by nonfiction and fiction near the top. Once they’re organized by subject, take one shelf, lay the taller books flat, and stack them horizontally, which helps break things up a bit. You can also intersperse carefully edited small objects or photos throughout the shelves, but be sure not to let them make the shelves look too busy. If you tend to shy away from paperbacks in central spaces, you can always tuck them away in a bedroom reading nook. – Lesley McRae Design

When decorating with books, group them into alphabetical order. This way, you can find a book you need, or want to lend, right away. Place a few horizontally to showcase your favorites, and don’t forget to leave some space on each shelf to feature a plant or an adored object that will compliment the book covers it’s next to. We love to see a favorite or current read (or two) on a coffee or end table, and it’s a great way to spark a conversation with your guests. – BOOK CLUB On the Go

Since we are all different, it’s important to organize our books in a way that brings value to our space for us. I always ask my clients what they would enjoy more: by genre, author, color, size, collection, etc. My personal favorite is by genre/topic or by color. – Colburn Solutions

2) Style each section of your shelves as vignettes

The books you read a lot need to be placed on the shelves with function in mind. If you’re always reaching for the book with gorgeous travel photos, it doesn’t make sense to put it under three others and topped off with a gorgeous vase. So, for books you own but rarely read (but are emotionally attached to), use them to create a vignette. Style cookbooks with some vintage kitchen implements from Nana’s house. Face out your fashion books with some Barbie dolls on stands like a Parisian catwalk. Pair your love of books about cars or aviation with models showing the doors, hoods, and trunks open, inviting the viewer to look inside. By using the vignette approach, your stylized shelves will be as pleasurable to create as they are to view. – Hyman Home and Interiors

3) Upcycle old books into art

If you find yourself overwhelmed with a collection of books that have seen better days, consider upcycling them into art instead of sending them off to a landfill (where over 600,000 tons of books go annually). Rip the covers off your old books, open them up, secure them to the wall or a wood backing with nails, and then paint a design onto them with acrylic paint. The books become the literal canvas for your art, and it’s sure to be a show-stopping piece in your home. – Fiddle Leaf Interiors

Use a little creativity if you have a lot of books but are running out of room. Turn your books into art by putting them on display amongst your other art, or use them to bring more style to your kitchen shelves. – Simply Sheena Marie

4) Use books as an accent piece

If you have a meaningful or beautiful book that you would like to feature, display it on a plate stand either open or with the front cover out. This works particularly well for family or travel photo books. You can even change it up and feature a new book every month. For books that don’t make the visual cut, utilize open-top baskets and place the books inside with their spines facing up to easily find what you’re looking for. – House Meraki Interior Design

5) Play around with different heights and depths

I love to use books stacked horizontally to prop up accessories and add height. When decorating with books, a good mix of vertical and horizontal lines is imperative to make an eye-catching vignette. Placing accessories on horizontally stacked books gives extra height to shorter accessories and proudly showcases your treasures on a pedestal. – Nikole Starr Interiors

For large-scale coffee table books that you don’t often reference, try displaying books in a vertical stack. Like building blocks, start with the largest on the floor and layer on in order of size. In my own living room, a vertical stack keeps my design books where I can see them while also serving as an “architectural” element, creating a boundary in an open-plan space. – Heather Peterson Design

6) Repurpose old books from the library or a used bookstore to add character and warmth to your space

Remove the book jackets when displaying larger coffee table books for a clean, polished look or stack your books with pages facing outward to create a great neutral color palette and add texture. Simple vignettes of a few stacked books can add functional style and visual interest to any room of your home. – Hearth + Home Interiors

7) Use books as functional decor

Decorating with books adds a functional element to your decor. For example, a stack of books can be used to “elevate” a lamp that isn’t quite high enough for the space. Books can also serve as a “buffer” between hard spaces. The same lamp displayed on its own on a brass table would feel cold. But adding a buffer of books between the two elevates the feel and pulls the different elements together. – Kim Macumber Interiors

Originally published on Redfin

Read more about styling here in our article on how to how to style an entry way shelf.

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