There are some ideas that surface which stun you. You take a minute and quickly ridicule them in your head and then step back and think, well I dunno — I don't hate it as much as I should. That's the case with this book rug and although it's probably more of a show piece than a functional item for your home — assuming all the books were destined for an ill-fate anyway — it's actually kind of neat.
Craft or home decor projects that utilize books are always on the quick to criticize list. Most of us love books greatly and don't like to see them damaged. It's easy to believe that they should all be in libraries for an eternity or shipped to places where folks could use them.
That said, there are times where you just have an over abundance of material that no one else wants. This rug was created by Pamela Paulsurd who focuses her work on the concept of handwriting and items of the like. This rug is able to be walked on and we're guessing would provide a soft comforting smell to whatever room it's placed in. Are you tired of the "building with books" craze or would you rather see folks being creative with other materials? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Image: Pamela Paulsurd via Recyclart
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Unique and delightful !
Blasphemy! How could someone do that to books? :(
I'd like that as art, on the wall, actually.
@mariyaodessa - what if the book was missing pages, was ruined, or otherwise unreadable? Notice the post said, "all the books were destined for an ill-fate anyway."
"assuming* "all the books were destinted for an ill-fate anyway."
Or maybe as a tabletop for an occasional table... preferably one that was rarely used? (I keep thinking, "How would you ever clean it?" and "What if you spilled water on it?")
Firmly in the "OK with adulterating books" camp.
I agree that it would be cool on a wall. Something about the circular shape makes it great.
Love ya, Sarah Rae--"I don't hate it as much as I should" is the funniest and most true thing I've read today.
Walking on books is never Okay, no matter what their destiny. It's just disrespectful.
Wow. I had a dream about exactly this concept a couple of months ago. The living room floor was covered in books standing on their pages, stacked so tight you could walk on the spines. Bizarre.
I think it is fantastic....better as a rug and in a landfill! :)
*than in a landfill
I think I would stub my toes. A lot.
I'm sorry people who are against this idea but it's not like this is a hundred copies of the bible she used to make the thing. It's better than never being read and ending up in the recycling bin or trash. Calm yourselves.
I would prefer it as wall art to a rug...I like the concept perhaps modified as a cabinet door for hidden storage space (so that the wall or shelf looks like a library bookshelf, but it's really a panel that opens up to reveal a secret storage area).
Well, I guess if this is what the skins of all those decoratively tied/twined books are destined for, I'm okay with it.
No waste is a good motto.
It does look like it would be great on a wall. I'd have trouble walking on it.
No, a rug made out of a hundred copies of the bible would be way better because that at least would be *funny*. This just seems dumb. Might be okay as wall art, but as a rug it just seems impractical, uncomfortable, and ungainly.
"I would prefer it as wall art to a rug...I like the concept perhaps modified as a cabinet door for hidden storage space (so that the wall or shelf looks like a library bookshelf, but it's really a panel that opens up to reveal a secret storage area)." - Katie from EITAK
Oooh.... that's a great idea!
I love it. Also, as an editor who MAKES books, I also have no qualms whatsoever about destroying them, either. Books have a multitude of uses, and only some are destined to become rare books. Also, any reason to keep making the hard copies and not go to digital, i.e. people buying more books--whether to replace their "rug" copies or for any other reason-- I'm all for. :)
Another way in which Kindles just don't quite give the same tactile experience.
I like this idea, but agree it would be better as table or wall art.
I just like my rugs to be soft and cozy feeling.
I wonder if it has been sealed with something. I kind of like it but I wouldn't want to walk on it. It doesn't seen very durable. I think if it was on a wall it wouldn't be so interesting.
So, I stub my toe and collapse on books every time I walk in this part of the room. . . .
I'd like it as a tabletop for an occasional table and with a glass top on it. Also, I don't find anything sacred about books. Lots of them are bad bad bad.
I'm a librarian. I have a strong opinion that books that you bother to keep in your life to read or refer to should be respected and taken care of (and shelved in an intelligent accessible way even if that's not "decor"), but once they pass that point, anything goes. I do like the circular aspect and the pattern formed from the lines of the spines!
My library receives hundreds of books a week as donations for our book sales, and we constantly weed from our collections books with outdated information, things no longer circulating due to passing interests, etc. The things we couldn't sell often (used to) go to a recycling dumpster and we had to pay to have them hauled away and pulped. (Recently a couple of options arose where dealers or used book stores take extra things away instead, but I assume some things THEY can't still sell get the dumpster treatment, anyhow.)
Recycling book spines seems fine with me. (The guts of the books are probably being pulped.) But I'm not so sure about as rugs... I'm with those who would like this piece as wall art or as a table top (covered in glass).
Few book copies have lasting value since their primary use is information storage. Books' information usually becomes inaccurate, their popularity usually wanes, and their physical condition deteriorates. Objective evaluation of books' value and how they can best be used is in no way "blasphemous."
Books rarely merit being archived, and undiscriminating book hoarders forget that space is money. Sending inaccurate, disintegrating books to prisons or schools in developing countries isn't doing their recipients any favors. It's better to recycle such books as SherryBinNH described or to reuse them creatively as posted.
I'm with some of the others here...this seems less than functional as a rug, but would be beautiful in so many other contexts!
Too busy.
When full bookshelves show up on here, that's usually not considered an acceptable look; they're generally covered by curtains, arranged by color, or heavily broken up by other objects. But now we like the look of packed-together books? I can't keep track.
I like this, but I would want to curate the titles myself (an auto repair manual doesn't exactly speak to me) -- and I agree, instead of walking over this, I'd rather use it as a table-top under glass.