How to Decorate with Chalk Painted Books
I love books! I collect books! I even enjoy books that others would look over.
Those with a tattered, well-worn look. There’s something charming and magical about the mystery of what lies inside a book.
Using books in decor has come so far beyond filling them in bookshelves or book troughs
(I love those things!) Books, as decorative items, can be used practically anywhere. Now, with so many ways to transform books, they can add to the charm of the room’s decor plan! I have covered them with burlap and displayed them on the mantel and on bookshelves.
Today, I’m going to show you various vignettes with books.
These books that I have painted. They’re old Reader’s Digest books that can easily be found at Goodwill, any Thrift Store or any library’s sale shelves. If you can’t find these – finding books of the same size and dimension will not be too hard and any of these locations. I have used them before as is in summer mantel decor.
There are various ways we can paint books.
We can select craft paint, left-over paint, chalk paint or spray paint. Today, I’ve painted my books with Rustoleum’s Chalked Paint in Linen. I love this soft white shade! Sprayiing the books was quite easy.
- I laid them all out on my side porch on a large piece of cardboard.
- With a couple inches space between them, I painted one side – left them all to dry.
- I then painted another coat. This should do it – unless there’s a dark pattern. It all depends on the thickness of the layer of paint. Once that side is dry, I flip it over to the other and repeat.
- Then, I stood the books on end to paint the spine of the book. I also painted the edges with the pages as they were laying on their side.
- Once I was satisfied with the finish of the books, I then moved on to deciding how they would be used in my decor.
I had ten books – one I painted quite differently.
I opened it up in the center and painted the opened pages. Then once fully dry, I added graphics I created on Canva. I’m thinking of the Romance of it all…I love this quote from the Bible. It means so much to Dearest and I.
I found this wonderful Jute Rope at Hobby Lobby – in natural and off-white. I love the thickness, strength and texture. It holds the bow well!
You can use just about anything to bind two or three books together such as ribbon, lace, twine, Baker’s twine, rope – whatever you have that you like!
Creating Vignettes with the Painted books:
- Group books by three – depending on thickness
- Use Twine, Rope, Lace, Ribbon to bind books
- Add Graphics if You wish
- Group with a variety of items – odd number groupings are appealing
