Spines In, Thumbs Down

I heard and then read something this morning that makes me wonder where I've been for the past few years. Apparently there is a decorating trend which calls for flipping around the books on your bookshelf. That's right; spines turned in, not out.

This is one of the book shelves in my house. Pretty average.

Yes, I actually kept most of my college textbooks.

I rearranged that shelf to give you an idea of what a spines-in / pages-out bookshelf looks like.

Poor Calvin and Hobbes has seen better days.

Is it just me, or is this plain weird? Do these people not read? Or am I the only one who needs to see the spine of a book to know which book it is?

Mr. Vagabond and I have always adored books, both to read and for their aesthetic appeal. I am constantly changing around my book cases to make them look a little bit different. I've got nicknacks mixed in with books here and there, some larger books are stacked up and lying flat and there are magazines stacked on a couple of shelves, too. But one thing I've never considered is flipping books around backward.

If a uniform color scheme is what these decorators are aiming for, why not make matching book jackets for all of the books? That might actually be cute. It could be done with wrapping paper or unpasted wallpaper. The pasted kind might stick to the book.

Something like this:

Cut some wrapping paper (Sorry, Mr. Baldacci).

Fold it to fit the book.

Tuck the ends of the paper around the ends of the book cover and voila: Book jacket

If plain or white is what you're after, flip the paper over, use white paper or even brown Kraft paper.

Maybe even add labeling stickers to write the title on.

Book spines are functional. They help hold books together and guard against dust and UV rays. With the spines turned in, page edges will age and yellow a lot faster. Plus it just looks odd, and not groovy odd. Weird odd.

My official, and not terribly important judgment call for this trend is Thumbs Down.


XOXO