How to Decorate With Antique Books

Stacks of Books

• Stack a few antique books, title sides showing, inside an antique open bookcase or cabinet with glass doors. Use books with covers in the same colors as the bookcase or room decor for continuity and texture. Select specific subject matter for greater impact, for example, a display of antique French history books inside an antique French cabinet. Consider creating a still-life. Stack a few antique books and place a pair of antique spectacles or wire-framed eyeglasses at the side or atop the books, with an inkwell or old sharpened pencils nearby to make a nice statement in a library or corner of a room where a teacher or writer usually works. Sentimental value is added when you create the still-life will from antique books you inherited. Use an old leather belt to tie up a bundle of leather-bound antique books for a more masculine look in a study.

Antique Book Clock

• For a one-of-kind accessory, remove the pages from an antique book you will not be reading again. Drill a small hole where you want the clock to go. Insert a quartz movement, which you can purchased for nominal cost at your favorite craft or big-box store, through the back of the hole, following manufacturer instructions. Add clock hands, purchased when you buy the movement, and numbers if you desire. Insert an AA battery into the clock movement and set your new antique book clock. Open slightly to stand on a shelf or table.

Create Wall Art

• Decide on the type of old-time look you want to create, whether it is ancient kings and queens, mummies, a whimsical picture for a child's room or a lovely collection of flowers. The older or more primitive the pictures look, the better the impact. Pages with yellowing or foxing -- the brown spots often found on antique book pages -- add character. Select favorite passages from the antique book and place them alongside the pictures. Passages with antique typeface and gilded lettering add interest and color. You can also use a single favorite page from an antique book. Cut out photos and passages, and arrange them on card stock. Glue and let dry completely. Place your new antique book art in a frame that complements the art, and hang it in the room. Create a frame or mat for vacation photos or family photos from long-ago generations by removing maps from an antique book or atlas. Either affix photos over the antique map or cut the map and insert a favorite photo, and then frame.

Specific Themes

• Place a few antique books on an end table or a bedroom nightstand. Use books on French history or French lesson books in a bedroom with French Provincial furniture. Set a few antique English literature or romance books on a coffee table in a room decorated in English cottage or shabby chic decor. Add interest to a room decorated in Art Nouveau with a stack of different sized antique books that complement the geometric decor of the furnishings. Pages from antique books depicting the floral backgrounds and flowing lines of Art Nouveau, placed in a period frame, will demonstrate even more Art Nouveau influence.