Vintage Book Collection {and a decorating fail}

March 21, 2014 /

Do you ever have an idea that you think is going to be really great only to get it completed (or almost) and realize: not gonna work.

Well, that happened to me last week, but I thought I would share it with you anyways just for fun.

It all started with my collection of vintage books. I have a small board on Pinterest called “library” with inspiring displays of books. I enjoy when they are randomly and haphazardly arranged.

I have quite a hefty collection and they are strewn about my house in various locations. A bunch of them have been cluttering up my dining room for the past two months since taking down my Valentine’s mantel. I really wanted them out of there, so I had an idea. I was going to completely fill my corner shelf with them. 


So there I was…scurrying around my house finding all of my vintage books, bringing stacks and stacks of them to the living room.

I will get to the “fail” part later, but for now…here are some of my beautiful vintage books. Some are in pretty rough shape, but it doesn’t bother me. In fact, I love that they have been in the hands of so many others, read and reread, tattered with age. 

The outside of these books can tell stories all their own.

I have several very old French books.

And here is one of my sets of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. These ones are pretty tattered, but I do have another set in much better condition.

I have a very large collection of art books, and some pretty old bibles.

I filled and filled and filled the center shelf and was pretty pleased with how it was turning out. It was actually coming together like I had imagined. I even filled in behind them very tightly so they wouldn’t collapse inward. They seemed pretty stable and secure every time I pushed on them to make sure (I obviously didn’t want to create a danger for my family!).

My husband came into the room after I had almost finished with the middle section, and was impressed. He said it definitely looked cool and interesting. But then he pointed out where this project would eventually end up in the fail pile.

The shelf underneath the books was bowing. It is quite a hefty collection indeed. Too hefty in fact. The front trim, that was original to the old door, had actually started pulling away from the side. I didn’t want to ruin this lovely shelf my husband had built for me.

And, I didn’t want all of these books falling on us one day if the bottom gave out. So, all of that work and now all I have to show for it are these pictures and stacks and stacks of books in my living room. Until, I think of something else to do with them that is (or invest in a bookshelf, ha).

Here is a full shot after I got the middle section done. I had hoped to fill up both the top and bottom shelves as well, but that didn’t happen. I do think it would have looked pretty cool, but oh well! Live and learn.

You can see it bowing here. Yeah, not good.

But…the good news is, I did finally figure out how I wanted to finish off this shelf (it is now lined with dark brown burlap) and it is already done and decorated for spring. I can’t wait to share it with you! Hopefully, early next week so be sure to come back for a visit! And be sure to follow by email or other social media to stay updated!

Don’t forget to check out my latest free printable for spring as well!

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Till next time…
~Alice W.

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