Decorating with Vintage Books: 20+ Ideas to Try

I love decorating with vintage books.  They add so much texture and character to built-ins, cupboards, mantels, kitchens, and more.  I have collected vintage books for years now and thought I would take this chance to share 20+ fresh ideas for decorating with vintage books. 

Where to Buy Vintage Books for Decorating

There are so many places to buy vintage books, whether you just love collecting them or you want to use them for decor.

One of the best ways to find them is by buying vintage books online. You can explore my full guide to online vintage decor shopping or explore some of these booksellers:

• AbeBooks: This shop offers a wide selection of rare, collectible, and vintage books from various booksellers.
• Pretty Old Books: Offers a curated selection of vintage first editions, rare books, slipcased sets, holiday books, and highly collectible editions. Even better? You can shop this site by color, so it’s perfect for getting vintage books for decor!
• ThriftBooks: This platform has more than 19 million titles available second-hand on their website, including vintage, first-edition, and modern books. If you want vintage books that look for decor but you can also read, this site is a great place to look.
• Goodwill Books: Shop Goodwill’s collection of thrifted books online and find some really unique (and beautiful) old books for your decor.

My favorite way to buy vintage books for decor, however, is by exploring thrift shops, flea markets, consignment shops, antique stores, and more. You can also often find old books on Facebook Marketplace or at yard sales in your area.

I’ve found that buying vintage books locally is much more affordable than online, and it’s easier to plan your decor when you’re buying the books in person.

 Here are a few of my favorite vintage books for decorating:

This post may contain affiliate links, which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

How to Decorate with Books

Before we discuss specific ideas for decorating with vintage books, let’s review a few basics for creating your own old book displays.

Pay attention to the colors

I love to look for vintage books in a variety of colors so that I have lots of decor options. I like to stack a few books of the same color or color family all together or create a color-coordinated shelf of books and decor. I also like to switch up the colors of my vintage books for various holidays and other seasons throughout the year. Red and green or red and white books, for example, can make beautiful Christmas decorations.

Use the pages

Don’t be afraid to decorate with the inside pages of a vintage book, too! You can display books opened to expose their pages or tear pages out and use them for folded paper art, wall art, paper garlands, and even placemats. The possibilities are virtually endless!

Bundle together

Decorating with vintage books works especially well when you use multiple books together. You can easily create really beautiful displays by bundling books together and tying them up with twine, ribbon, or another decorative string.

You may also find inspiration in this Vintage Bookshelf Decor: Thrifty Vignettes post.

Learn how to stack books

When I first started decorating with vintage books, I spent a lot of time researching how to stack books for decor. It seems like it should be simple, but it’s definitely an art! I typically like to stack books from largest to smallest in a pyramid-like shape. But it can also be really beautiful to arrange books with mixed heights and widths for a more casual look.

20+ Ideas for Decorating with Vintage Books

Pair Vintage Books with Candles

I realize old books and candles don’t necessarily sound like a great (or safe) combination, but they really are! Whether you’re using a stack of books as a stand for a candlestick or simply displaying vintage books alongside a favorite candle like I did on the shelf picture below, it’s easy to create some beautiful combinations.

I love the touch of blue in these books! Paired with the blue glass candlesticks and neutral colors, it really adds to that soft vintage charm.

Arrange Vintage Books On a Step Stool

If you like farmhouse style, a simple step stool with old books, candles, and spindles along with a drop cloth look so fun in a corner, sunroom, porch, etc…

Display Vintage Books with Photo Bookends

Here are a few books with framed pictures as bookends! (My parents) 🙂 This is a really simple way to add some interest to a shelf for displaying photos.

Create a Monochromatic Bookshelf

While I love to use color in my decorating, there’s just something so beautiful about an all-white palette. In this example of decorating with vintage books, white books are paired with a white shelf, organic accents, and even an antique violin in my small home library. Learn more about using musical instruments as part of your decor.

You may enjoy the Best Vintage Finds for Winter Collections post.

Pair Books with Vintage Busts

I found these vintage busts at a local consignment shop, and they are so fun with the vintage books and a neutral basket.  I used to think busts were really creepy, but not anymore!  Ha…

I love the way this unique display came together, featuring a vintage bust, some neutral vintage books, and a vintage toy train. This is a lovely vignette for any time of year, but works especially well as vintage Christmas or neutral winter decor.

Try a Vintage Book Valentine’s Day Display

I love these black vintage books where I simply added a burlap bow and dried pale pink roses and placed them on our mantel for Valentine’s Day.  It added such a romantic feel and quickly became one of my favorite vintage Valentine’s Day decor ideas.

Using Vintage Books as Christmas Decor

I love to incorporate vintage books into my Christmas decor. I made this book tree years ago and featured it in one of my very first blog posts ever! It’s still one of my favorite vintage book decor ideas.

I’ve also paired neutral, vintage books with knit ornaments in a bowl to unique Christmas decor for shelves. These books are all part of the same series, and I love the way they have similar coloring and are all the same height. They really catch the eye when they’re arranged together on a bookshelf.

Use Vintage Books on Built-In Shelves

I love the small vintage books, along with all my vintage flea market finds, decorated on the Built-Ins. Neutral colors with whites are so softening. Switching up the books I use is such an easy way to update these shelves with each season or holiday.

Pair Vintage Books with Printing Press Letters

I found these printing press letters at an antique shop and love how they represent our state of Vermont (VT). The vintage books are also green, representing VT colors!

Use Vintage Books as Dining Room Decor

I love the idea of using vintage books in an old hutch in the dining room. These black and white book covers pair so beautifully with the simple white dishes and vintage scale already on these shelves.

Elevate Flowers with Vintage Books

Create height with stacks of vintage books. I got this little vintage stand while thrifting in Maine, and the vintage books look so cute with simple flowers on top!

Create Art with Old Books

I recently discovered Allison Ginn on Instagram. She folds and creates amazing books, and she customizes them the way you want them to! You may check her work out at Fold Between the Lines.

Use Vintage Books to Bring Color to Your Home

While many of the ideas I’ve shared so far feature white or neutral vintage book covers, adding old books to your design plans is also a great way to easily add color (and change with the season).

In the image below, I dressed up a bookcase for winter with a fun pop of bright blue books from The Hardy Boys series.

Using vintage magazines is another great way to add color to a table or shelf. In the image below, I bundled up stacks of old magazines (found during a thrifting trip in Maine) with twine for a colorful, rustic look. These particular colors would be a really beautiful combination for winter decor or even unique Christmas decor, but they can also work year-round!

One of my favorite ways to shop for vintage books online or in person is to look by color. If you shop online, many stores let you filter out results based on the color of the cover. If you’re shopping locally at a thrift store or second-hand sale, then look for bold colors that stand out.

This vintage copy of The Joy of Cooking is the perfect example! See more in the Country Estate Sale Near Me This Weekend post.

You can see more of this vintage cookbook displayed in the How to Use Rolling Pins as Bakers Pantry Door Handles post.

Create Seasonal Decor with Old Books

I love switching up these builtins with the season.  I don’t think they remain the same for more than a couple of weeks at a time! Changing the colors of the books I’m displaying and stacking them in different ways is such a simple strategy to change up the look of my space for each season (or whenever I feel like it!).

Decorate with Vintage Books That Have Meaning

Because vintage books are old, they can hold many wonderful memories. I love decorating with books that not only look pretty but also represent a really special person, place, or time in my life.

Decorating with my mother’s vintage book about braided rugs, for example, lets me have a piece of her in my home every day. 

Similarly, I love incorporating this page from a vintage copy of The Vermonter magazine into my bookshelf decor. It was a treasure I found at Vintage Market Days Vermont.

The simple green and white color scheme makes this piece really versatile. I love to put it on a vintage clipboard and display the whole thing on our built-in shelves.

Old and new books can be used in so many beautiful ways.

Shop This Post

This post may contain affiliate links, which won’t change your price but will share some commission.