By the Foot: Judging (and Decorating) with Books

Books have long been a staple in home décor. Believe it or not, some people have a lot of them because, well, they read a lot. More often though, one has shelves and they need something to go on them – no judgement here. We’re not exactly sure how far back this dates, but at least since the turn of the last century, booksellers realized they could unload a lot of inventory to newly built home libraries not selling by title, but by distance. 

“By the foot” was born and was as efficient as it was déclassé. Jay Gatsby (America’s most famous icon of “New Money”) bought his books by the foot – easily spotted in the days when you still had to slice the pages. 

More recently, we’ve embraced the fact that books just look cool – literally judging them by their cover. They can be organized by color, stylized or wrapped in the paper of your choosing.  You can go vintage leather, or clean and modern. You can pick your various topics, or just get the classics, a small accent or a whole wall. No matter your style, they add a bit of class and warmth to any room.