Decorating with books...backwards

Yeah, its a real dumbass idea. But, what would you expect from Nate and Jeremiah?

What is the purpose of this other than to prevent you from reading the title of the books on their spines?

R2, I’m guessing that the purpose is uniformity and lack of color. I like colorful spines with different fonts, personally.

What’s a book?

I doubt anyone who decorates like that actually reads books so this will work out quite well for them.

How funny. This trend suits the outrage culture to a T that they must be shielded from potentially offensive spines of your favorite novels.

Hate the backwards spine thing. I have a friend who organizes books by color--also annoying, though not as annoying.

Real readers organize in some way that's actually functional--I organize by subject and, in subjects like fiction, alphabetically.

I wonder what Jeremiah likes to read. I’d like to read to him in bed.

Nate Berkus has THE absolute worst taste!

Ugh...on TV shows they have to do this so they don’t have to pay rights to all of the authors for displaying their work and IP. If people do this in real life, they’re idiots.

This is another idiotic decorating idea that only appeals to people who think HGTV is high design. That entire network should be prosecuted for crimes against good taste.

The mediocre framed pencil drawing is an instant disqualifier.

I actually read that realtors recommend this if you have a lot of books

Readers should not take advice from Realtors on anything other than buying and selling houses.

I’ve cut the number of books I own drastically.

I realized I will never re-read most of them. Since I have a kindle, if I want to read something, I’ll just get it on the kindle.

That said, I arrange books by size. Taller books on the left and shorter on the right. Looks nice that way

Backwards books should be a crime and it's also just idiotic, not edgy or hip.

I never thought I'd write this but I actually prefer the dreaded stacked books to this backwards dreck.

If I saw this in someone's house, I would think they are both ignorant and posers. It screams fake.

Books are AWFULLY decorative, don't you think.

[quote] If I come to your house and you’ve done this to your books, I’m flipping over your coffee table. Because an upside-down table makes just as little sense as a book filed on the shelf, spine in.

Nate Berkus doesn't actually read books, so it makes perfect sense he would be in favor of this.

At that point they may as well just get rid of them altogether.

This has got to be the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen concerning decor. It's on a par with that Israeli chef who puts questionable chocoates in questionable shoes. What's the point of having books on a shelf if you can't see what their titles are and make it more difficult to pull them from the shelf?! Does this mean I should read the books from end to beginning?

[quote]I actually prefer the dreaded stacked books to this backwards dreck.

Actually, stacking books is better for the bindings than the vertical way we traditionally display them, unless you have them jammed so tightly together that the covers hold the pages up.

I wish I could track down the interview I read around 1980 where Halston insisted that backwards was the only tasteful way to display books. Whole walls of backward books.

The trend that will last till this weekend. Let's not worry about it.

Beyond stupid and ugly.

r15, Get rid of them all. You currently reveal yourself to be a buffoon.

I'm going them better! I'm also turning around my wall art; facing my TV to the outside; and taking the labels off my canned goods!

Because let's face it, the whole point of books is decoration.

What would you guys do with a bunch of Monocle magazines? I am sick of looking at the huge stack of them. They're supposed to be collectors items.

This is a stupid trend and whoever brought it back should be frozen in carbonite.

That is stupid, impractical, and ugly!

R31, I would take them to a reliable bookbinder and have them bound in annual volumes, in leather, with your family crest embossed on the front, like we gays do with Spy magazine. Marbleized end papers optional but recommended.

This is a trend for people who have too much time and nothing of importance to do.

and don't read

Dang R19. (I mean Gloria Upson.) You said the top drawer line I was going to use. Though, I must say that backward books are ghastly.

Please. For any of the chimp fetuses under 30 and most of the other embarrassments over 30, books are merely a decorative item anyway.

I'd throw a match into them after a spritz of cooking oil.

I went on a designer house tour in my town several years ago and they did this---all the books turned around in the study that had floor to ceiling mahogany book shelves on three walls.. The person hosting said the designer who decorated that room turned them because the room was so dark with all the spines (mostly dark colors) facing forward. It was so silly though. Every person who entered the room asked the host the same question---"what's up with the books"? It distracted from everything else the designer did in that room.

I understand it - but it’s lazy. It is really hard to coordinate book colors and sizes. But that is the job fool. This is stupid and lazy.

Dust and paper mite collectors.

Domino featured books piled into non-functioning fireplaces - all with spines to the wall.

That was 2007 or 2008

It doesn't look good. It looks stupid. It looks like hoarders.

If the different spine colors bother you that much you could cover the books in white or brown paper and write the name on the covered spine, if you’re really OCD about it you could do them all in printed labels or fancy copperplate or something.

I love books but they take up so much space I need to be strict with myself about sending them off to the charity shop once or twice a year. I keep some I can’t bear to part with but I wouldn’t dream of wasting time covering them up.

R31, Upright magazine holders work well--each holds about 8-10 issues. You can then put them on bookshelves. I like the ones covered in book cloth, but there are a lot of choices.

This doesn't make sense. How do you find a book that you want to read then? Do you pulll them all out one by one until you find the right one? Stupid.

Thanks R45

Awful. Frauish.

Just place them neatly in a bookshelf

This is to hide those Reader’s Digest classics that you were stupid enough to buy