5 Ways Decorating with Books Can Make You Happy

Inside: Discover five reasons decorating with books can make you as happy as the day you first cracked open your favorite novel, thriller or mystery.

Every time I move homes (which is fairly often,) I pack up boxes and boxes of books.

Antique books with flaky spines. Well-thumbed paperbacks sporting brown coffee stains. Crisp hardbacks to replace the worn paperbacks I never get rid of.

My collection of books could easily fill a small library—or, you know, a lot of cardboard boxes.

When I cut open those boxes and pull out my books, it feels like I’m greeting old friends.

And, I definitely wouldn’t banish my old friends to the attic or shove them to the back of a closet. So, why would I put my books there?

Books deserve to be around us. And having them on display in our homes can make us happy.

If you think I sound delusional book crazy, then check out these five reasons decorating with books can make you happy.

1. Decorating with books add coziness

A stack of books on the coffee table or a shelf lined with your favorite classics adds coziness to your home in a way a decorative lamp never can.

Don’t get me wrong. I love lamps.

But I can’t touch their bases like I can the cover of a book and feel comforted, knowing a story I love is a page away.

2. Decorating with books looks stylish

Books can add style to any room in your home. And, who isn’t happier when their home looks more put together?

Use books to:

• Fill in shelves
• Add a little something to an end table
• Show off a vase, candle or plant
• Create levels for a more interesting display

3. Decorating with books adds personality

Books introduce your personality to a space.

The books you buy and read become unique to you. When you place them around your home, you make it yours.

And, don’t you feel happier when you’re surrounded by meaningful objects?

4. Decorating with books adds artwork to your home

Books covers are their own works of art.

The book jackets and spines, especially on hardback books, exude charm. I especially love vintage book covers.

Make your books their own works of art by:

• Styling a shelf with a row of books in the same color for a pulled together look
• Incorporating books with covers you love on a mantle, shelf or side table
• Flipping all your books so their pages face out on a shelf for an unexpected vibe

5. Decorating with books encourages you to slow down

Books remind me to slow down. To get away from my computer. Put down my phone. Take a breath.

When I see my books out on display, they lure me in, like a moth to a flame.

I can’t resist them.

I’ll find myself picking one up to flip through it and hours pass before I notice I never stopped reading.

For now, I’ll enjoy my books until the next time I have to pack them away. But like a good story coming to an end, I’ll know they’ll be there when I open them back up.

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This is the fifteenth post in a 31 days blog series called 31 Days of Reimagining. Start from the beginning.