Books are objects of art... to be appreciated and admired not just once but again and again.
We like books. In fact, we pretty much love them. And most of us book lovers, collect them. Books are objects of art… to be appreciated and admired not just once but again and again. Here's how to turn your collection into collectibles.
Get a few novels of the same size bound in red leather. Place them on your mantelpiece in between carved bookends.
Build a shelf running all along the four walls of a room starting from
about a foot or two below the ceiling. Stack it up with books of
approximately the same size.
Categorise your books. Keep cookbooks in the kitchen, and encyclopedias in your or in your child's bedroom.
Build your encyclopaedia collection. Does your child
have an encyclopaedia? You'd be amazed at the number of children who
have never rifled through one simply because of lack of access.
Children are full of questions, and most parents do not have the time
or the patience or, often, the knowledge to answer questions thrown at
them from those intelligent, answering minds. Get an encyclopaedia and
rifle through it with your children. You will be amazed at the number
of things you didn't know. Not only will your kids have a great time
and learn a lot, but so will you.
Keep coffee table books
out there - on the coffee table. They look good, and they make
excellent conversation pieces. Any interesting hardbound book you can
just browse through, which has great images, and usually one which
tells you a lot about something you really don't need to know anything
about, and one which causes you to fork over a hefty sum of money,
pretty much summarises your average coffee table book - such as the
Kama Sutra. Now that's a coffee table book which has sparked many an
interesting topic of conversation!
Preserve your books well, so you can enjoy them for years to come. Here are some tips on book preservation:
Do not place books in the sun.
Get
those dust bunnies out! Clean your bookshelf often. Remove every book
and wipe it well. You don't want bookworms to feast on them, do you?
Do not place books in areas with high humidity such as cellars and basements.
Place your books horizontally on bookshelves instead of placing them vertically.
While
you may feel that laminating a document helps preserve it for longer,
the reverse is true. Lamination adds acid, and causes damage over the
years. Instead, just file away a document you want to preserve, and do
not fold it.
What about those old, old books that have been with you
for donkey's years, have been half eaten away by bookworms, and whose
pages just melt in your hands? You'll probably never read them again,
but you just don't have the heart to throw them away. Firstly, come to
a decision. If you want to keep them, keep them well, or sell them.
Find out from your local library about which place would be interested
in purchasing old books. If you have decided to keep them, then get a
cardboard box for each book, label the book and place it in the
cardboard box. Use it carefully. It is not advisable to use cellotape
on books, as the acid ruins the paper in the long run.
So there you have
it. Books can be a decoration item in themselves, and if you use them
well, they can add instant character to a home.
