Decorative Book Stack DIY With Old Books

Love decorating with old books? Try making an unbound vintage book stack! They are easy to make, cheap, and work for rustic, farmhouse, and cottage style. I especially love the texture that book bundles add to shelves. I’ll begin by sharing the supplies needed to make a decorative book stack. Next, the tutorial, and finally, how to style DIY stacked books. Let’s get started!

This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may earn commission at no additional cost to you. Tap for my policies.

DIY Decorative Book Stack Supplies

1. Old books that you do not mind unbinding. I started out with a box of paperbacks that I planned to donate anyway. Of course, then I wanted more, so I went to my local thrift store. Both hardback and paperback books work well.
2. Twine or ribbon. You can use basic twine, colorful ribbon, or neutral textured ribbon. Whatever matches your decor style!
3. Scissors. That’s it. I told you this was an easy DIY!

How To Make Book Stacks

1. Begin by tearing the covers off of the old books. If you are a book lover like me, it might be a little hard to do. But upcycling vintage books and using them for crafts gives them a new life, so I think it is okay. Plus, you can still read the books if you want to!
2. Tear off a few extra pages so you have a blank page facing up. This is not necessary if you do not mind seeing the text, or if you will style them in a way that does not show the top of the book bundle.
3. Stack several books. You can face them all one direction, or mix them up so you see some spines and some pages (see example photo above).
4. Cut twine or ribbon and wrap it around your bundle. When using twine, I wrapped the bundle several times so that the twine would appear thicker. I tied all of my bundles, but you could also glue the ribbon together if you prefer.

Tada! A quick, easy, and inexpensive way to make a neutral decorative book stack. What do you think? These would work great for home staging, filling in empty bookshelves, or for seasonal decor as I will show next!

Neutral Book Stack Decor Ideas

I recently ordered this Twas the Night Before Christmas sign and had fun styling it with neutral farmhouse decor. The decorative book stacks add so much warmth and texture.

I want to cherish the last few weeks of fall weather, but I am excited for Christmas! This is our first holiday season in our home, and my mind is running wild with decorating ideas.

If you would like to see the book bundles styled around our home, check out these posts!

1. Cottage Farmhouse Entryway
2. Coastal Farmhouse Dining room

Thanks so much for stopping by today, friends! I would love to see the projects you are working on, so leave me a comment if you have a chance!

SaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSave