5 Ways to Spice Up Your Bookshelf

By Tessa P., Grade 8

1. Add LED or Fairy Lights

LED and fairy lights are an inexpensive and simple way to add some brightness to your bookshelf. This addition enhances the cozy feel of reading late at night or on a rainy day. For just under $10 on Amazon, you can get 50-100 ft rolls of colorful, remote-controlled LED lights. Most of the products come with adhesive on the back, so all you need to do is peel and stick the strips onto your shelf! If you aren’t ecstatic about including neon colors in your reading corner, fairy lights are another fantastic option. Fairy lights offer more of a dreamy, twinkling, fireflies at night kind of effect compared to LEDs. As a bonus, many fairy lights come in a fun variety of shapes. You can get some charming flower shaped fairy lights for around $10 on Amazon, or depending on your budget, some higher quality crystal lights from a handful of sellers for upwards of $30. 

     2. Plants

Strategically placing plastic plants or hanging fake vines in unfilled spots on your shelves can allow your book nook to have a livelier feel for the season. On Amazon, a four-pack of small fake plants only costs $11, and as an added bonus, there’s no need to uptake the responsibility of watering them. Another choice for the same effect is fake vines. Just like fairy lights, these can be strewn about your reading space to add that touch of the outdoors. Fake vines are inexpensive as well; they cost around $7.

    3. Contact Paper

Is your monochrome bookshelf starting to feel boring? A cheap solution to this issue is contact paper. If you’ve never heard of it before, contact paper is a less costly version of removable stick-on wallpaper. Either of these ideas would work, but contact paper is more budget friendly. The paper comes in a roll, and all that needs to be done is tracing the area that is being patterned, cut it, peel it, and stick it. For a 1.5 ft by 10 ft roll, it’ll cost you $20 or so, though it depends on the pattern and size necessary for your project. This is the perfect way to fill time on a non-busy afternoon.

     4. Reorient Books

A free and easy way to spice up your bookshelf is to reorient your books. If all of your books are vertical right now, try flipping 3 or 4 books on their sides per shelf. You can create this stack of books on the sides of your shelf or in the middle, the more variety the better! Consider also topping the stack with a plant or small decorative piece of your choosing. In addition to the horizontal books, you can turn some of your most treasured book covers out and show them off. If there’s a book whose cover you love, don’t hide it; simply turn it 90 degrees, and then you can look at the gorgeous design all day. 

     5. Pillows and Blankets

Where there’s extra space next to your bookshelf, there’s opportunity. Purchase 1 or 2 floor cushions of whatever size is most comfy for you to sit and read on. Floor pillows cost around $40 per pillow, which is the most expensive addition, but well worth it. Once the floor cushions are in, scour the house for a soft throw blanket nobody is using, and if you have them, some throw pillows. Throw pillows and blankets are about $20 each, so if you don’t have any already, it might not be too expensive to buy some. After you add everything on top of your floor cushions, you’ll have a comfy and space efficient place to relax and read to your hearts delight!