As a once avid reader (I miss you books...see you again in the fall at grad school!), I proudly display my collections of reads throughout the home. As a designer, I'm also all too guilty of judging a book by its cover. When some book covers are oh so pretty, it doesn't make sense to only show off the spines, so why not frame them?
Before my fellow bibliophiles get in an uproar, no books were harmed in the making of this project as these are all postcards. Phew!
Using the Postcards from Penguin collection, Esta Sketch made a lovely framed display of some of her favorite color coordinated book covers. With the help of clear photo corners, none of the postcards were damaged either. The Ikea RAM frames ensured that this was a relatively inexpensive project.
If you don't have that particular postcard set, scans of your favorite books would work quite nicely. Or this would also be a great way to display a postcard collection from your recent travels.
For full instructions, visit Esta Sketch: Penguin Book Cover Art Project.
Image credits: Esta Sketch; found via Peppermags.
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Comments (14)
I have done this with the book covers of my own authored or edited books. They look great.
I love this idea. I've been collecting postcards from gallery openings, restaurant specials, roller girl matches, ect because I love their design/ advertisement. I was looking for a way to display them and this is perfect!!!
jlcarpe3 - me too, on the postcards from certain artists, films, etc. Fab idea.
That's smart - I'd love to display my vintage postcards in a better way...
...however, I'd certainly want to use UV resistant glass & archival materials - otherwise, in a few months they'd be terribly faded & stained.
At first glance, I thought this would be an awesome, albeit terribly *expensive* project - (I mean, can you imagine the cost of getting a custom-cut mat board for 8 postcards in a single frame?) - but huzzah! That's uber afforadable and easy.
Thanks for the post!
Very handsome. And extra kudos for an AT post that celebrates the look of books, instead searching for ways to get rid of them.
I'm interested to know the brand of the bed -- that would be a perfect solution for our tiny bedroom. Any idea?
I decoupaged my chest of drawers in my bedroom with ages from the Seven Hundred Penguins book. I got a matching, very plain, set of chests off eBay, then did my side in the Penguin covers and my partner's side in comic book pages.
It looks ace. Everyone that comes in (which is lots of people because my partner is bedbound, not because we're, like, inviting the milkman up) asks where to buy them.
I did this recently with an old paperback cover that had torn off the rest of the book. It looks so nice with a simple paper mat and cheap frame from goodwill.
O great! More great ideas for my already non-curated art/wall decor!
I love it! And admit to once buying a 25 cent, torn up detective novel from the 30s or 40s just so that I could frame the wonderful cover of a glamorous lady in an ominous atmosphere.
@skateleby: That bed is the IKEA Malm bed frame and headboard/bed shelf set. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/search/?query=malm&pageNumber=2
My husband and I have sent many, many kitschy one of a kind cards to one another over the years of being friends, dating, etc and we recently did this with those cards in our kitchen. :-)
I, too, did this with the Penguin postcards. Love the navy wall, too; makes the covers pop.
I would love to do this with postcards, but I have so many. I guess I could pick only the prettiest ones, or change them out every once in a while.