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Judging Books By Their Covers and Other Fun Stuff

Monday, June 26, 2006


Among my biggest shopping weaknesses (just after clutch purses and vintage coats) are design books, which I buy at an alarming-to-my-bank-account pace (just arrived: Designers on Design by Terence Conran and Max Fraser). A trick I've learned to stave off the inevitable poverty is to buy cheaper, used copies from Amazon Marketplace sellers, which are generally in good condition but often have some wear and tear to their covers. I then recover them with great wrapping paper (the stack above is my inspiration, and here are some handy instructions), and can just plop them in a big pretty pile on the coffee table.

For the paper, I always shop the sales at stationery brand Prints here in Singapore. I'd also suggest anything from Chicago-based Snow & Graham (see a range of products here) whose distinctive prints (below) are going to be decorating my next big book purchase (which is already on its way: Speck: A Curious Collection of Uncommon Things, about $5 through the Marketplace). An even cheaper alternative: Ikea sells rolls of glossy wrapping paper in bright, bold solids — a good balance to a bookshelf of busy patterns.

2 comments :

jon said...

great idea- very pretty...

Anonymous said...

I have been looking for ideas like this and have had the toughest time, thank you for the ideas but how about the book name like the ones the picture w/the stacked books, any ideas?