Any book lover will understand. My fellow English majors will give an appreciative nod. Even a history, philosophy, or social anthropology major will relate. For many of us, the “too many books” dilemma is a familiar one.
Too many books?? I hear you gasp. How could there be such a problem?? And yet, as most of us find ourselves transitioning from childhood bedrooms to dorm rooms to shoe box-sized first apartments, we also find that the space for our ever-growing portable library is diminishing. So for those of you who, like me, cannot bear to throw out a book, and find many of your hardcovers and paperbacks too well-annotated, coffee-stained and travel-battered (or as I choose to think of them, simply well-loved) to donate, let me suggest a few creative DIY projects to breathe new life into your literature collection.
1. Floating bookshelves
When I first discovered floating bookshelves, I thought they were completely magical, and they’re certainly an excellent way to reimagine your book storage. By attaching an L-shaped bracket to your wall and concealing it inside a hardcover book, you can then stack several more books on top to create the illusion of a stack of books floating in mid air!
These floating shelves are easy to assemble — all you need are some L-shaped brackets, like these ones from Lowe’s ($3), some screws, and a few tools — and provide lots of opportunity for creativity when it comes to choosing which books to group together. You’ll find me in the Dickens stack!
2. Phone charging station
If you hate the look of loose cords and modern charging stations, this DIY book stack complete with a hidden phone charger is an excellent and artistic solution. It’s simple to make, but also only requires a couple of books.
First, use an exacto knife to cut a channel through the book through which you can thread your charging cord, then super glue the pages together to seal the book with the cord inside. The phone should nestle against the book stack when plugged into the charger, looking like it’s merely resting on top of your favorite novel while it charges!
3. Book page wallpaper
Have you ever wanted to drift to sleep surrounded by the words of your favorite Shakespearean sonnets? Just me? Okay. But how about the pages of your favorite novel, then?
This is a more time-consuming project, and does require that you own the wall you’re about to decorate (do NOT do this in your dorm or apartment, you definitely don’t want to incur the wrath of your crazy landlady or bring down heavy fees for defiling your dorm room!), but creating book page wallpaper is a really fun way to breathe new life into your childhood bedroom. Start by cutting out all the pages from several books so that you have hundreds of loose sheets of paper. You can then use a simple paste or Mod Podge mixture to paste the pages onto the wall like wallpaper. You can align them neatly, or have them overlap to create a more haphazard look. Use this technique to cover a single accent wall, or even an entire room!
Related: Tiny Transformations: How I Upgraded My Apartment With Peel & Stick Wallpaper
4. Book boxes
While faux book boxes can easily be purchased, it’s far more fun to make them yourself. You’ll need thicker volumes for this particular project, so that you’ll actually have room to put things in your finished box, and hardcovers work best. Use your exacto knife to score out the middle of the book, and then use glue or Mod Podge to paint around the sides of the book to hold the pages together. Your hollowed-out book box will then make a great jewelry box, trinket stash, or even a gift for a bookish friend!
Whether you’re bored in quarantine, desperate for a creative outlet, or simply tired of tripping over your stacked volumes every time you emerge for another cup of tea, there are many ways to reimagine your love of literature without reducing your collection. After all, as Argentine author Jorge Luis Borges once said, “I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.”