To store or to display?

Judging a book by its cover has become an ambiguous term in our day and age, where the cover design of a book as a means of branding its author (through the use of certain fonts, for instance) has become an integral part of publishing and book buying. We do not necessarily think of books as aesthetic objects, but the lines are becoming more and more blurred as books also become functional, not only because of their contents, but because of how we use them within our dwellings. It seems that they bring as much pleasure to the eyes as they do to our ever-inquiring minds. So whether you decide to store or display your treasured reads, here is some helpful inspiration via some of our favourite websites and books (of course).


This beautiful arrangement will make it difficult to get to that elusive book at the bottom, but makes for a great feature wall in this San Fransico home as seen on ApartmentTherapy.


For more ideas on how to make your living spaces come alive and how to inject a bit of your soul into a room, I strongly recommend Alan Power's Living with Books which has over the years become a neverending source of inspiration.
Publisher: Mitchell Beazley represented by Penguin Books
ISBN: 9781845331818
Publication date: April 2006
Retail Price: R230


For storage solutions with a aesthetic twist, we found this detailed bookshelf by San Francisco Architects Aiden Darling on Remodelista.



A new book that caught our eye with practical storage solutions for books and other every day items that may clutter your living space is Storage: Get organized by Terence Conran.
Publisher: Conran Octopus represented by Penguin Books
ISBN: 9781840914344
Publication date: March 2008
Retail price: R320