Oh, Garage Sale Season… Welcome back. We missed you. Or at least I did! I can be such a sucker for garage sales. Good ones though, not the ones with half broken lamps for $20. No, thanks!! One time I found a set of barstools at a garage sale for $1.50! It was so exciting!
Another interesting purchase I made was at a pretty small sale. They had a box of old vintage books priced very very cheaply (I believe it was 6 for $1?)… I didn’t know what I was going to do with them, but I bought around 10.
When I was looking for things to put in our wicker tray on the coffee table, I started trying to find decor that we already had. Would I love gorgeous designer coffee table books? Of course, maybe one day. But certainly not today. $50+ books just aren’t in the budget right now.
That’s when I remembered the old books!
They didn’t look so great in their dingy brown color, so I decided, ya know what, I’m going to paint them! Yep, paint! (I think the boys gave me some crazy looks as I sat and painted books…) Here’s what I did:
1. I chose 3 books that were similar in size, because I wanted to be able to stack them.
2. The pages were a yellowy tan color, so I used a sponge brush to paint the edges of the pages. See the difference?
3. Then I went ahead and painted the whole cover of the book. I used white chalk paint, so it dried super fast. I only put 2-ish light coats on, as I don’t mind a little character.
4. At this point, I could have added designs to the front or done stripes or something cute. But, I decided to keep it super simple & just wrap some jute around them.
I think it is so simple, cute, and adds just enough!
What do you think? Would you ever paint books? Let me know in the comments!
What an adorable addition to your room! And painting them is such a clever way to incorporate them into your decor. I love that old books are new again!
Author
Thanks so much! 🙂
Great idea to make sure decor matches your house! I kind of love the old book style too though
Author
Thank you! I’m a sucker for vintage stuff, but sometimes it just doesn’t “go” 🙂
This makes me cringe! However, the more I think about it, I like the idea of painting books that had messages I absolutely hate.
Author
Haha, if it makes you feel any better, these were SO old, missing pages, and completely unreadable. I’m not even sure what they were!
I like this concept of repurposing what you have rather than buying new things. Great way to save money and be less wasteful.
Author
Thanks! I love DIY projects over buying new stuff!
Seems like a great idea to use old books or a reason to go garage sale hunting! It seems so simple, but it looks so cute. Very shabby chic!
Author
Thank you! I love making over garage sale finds!
LOVE LOVE LOVE this!! I can’t wait to find some old books to do this with, thank you for sharing! Love your blog!