Vintage Book Bundles

While we were shopping in Charleston, we found an amazing French antique store on King Street.  I loved almost everything in this shop, but it was outrageously expensive... rightfully so, because everything was really, really old and direct from France.  I fell in love with some book bundles that they had on display at the front of their store.  When I asked about them and how much they cost, the owners told me that the ones I liked weren't for sale but there were similar ones that were $250+ for a bundle of 2-3 books.  At that point, I decided that was crazy and just decided to browse around for inspiration not to buy anything.

When I got home from Charleston, I started looking online for similar book bundles and found some cute things on Etsy and a few on eBay.  But, it's really hard to tell what they look like in person from the pictures. So, I thought that I might be able to recreate something similar myself.  Yesterday, I went to Goodwill to look to see if they had any books that I could use for our new bookshelves in the library/sitting room.

I wound up buying 14 hardcover books and 10 paperback books, all very random in subject material... things I probably won't read, but will look pretty on the shelves. I chose most of these books based on the color of their spine or the condition of the paperback books.

I grouped the hardcover books into stacks that will go on the shelves eventually and then I got to working on turning the paperback books into bundles.  I removed the thick paper covers and paper over the spines to reveal the main part of the book.  I tore out a couple of pages so that the first page was one that I thought looked pretty.  Then, I stacked 3-4 books together and tied them with twine to create my bundle.

I'm pretty excited that I was able to create each bundle with 3-4 $0.75 books, what a bargain! This is especially cheap compared to some of the options on Etsy, these discontinued Pottery barn book bundles which were $40.

We're starting our bookcase project this weekend and I'm getting really excited about filling the shelves. These books and book bundles will look great with the other accessories that I've collected for the shelves. Here's a sneak peak at some of the items I've got so far.