We've got four in our bedroom, two on our coffee table, another one on a credenza and even one stack of books on a bench in the entryway. Perusing through recent tours, folks are stacking books high and low, on trunks, fireplaces, shelves, chairs, the floor, tables and more. One tends to wonder...are all these stacks for the look, or because of a lack of bookshelf space? (For us it's totally both.) Our favorite top ten stacks we've recently spotted in Apartment Therapy house tours:
Top Row:
1) Laura & Megan's Bright Vintage Inspired Apartment
2) Jason & Marisa's Wonderfully Woodsy Dallas Home
3) Stefanie & Mike's Heavenly Hollywoodland Home
4) Miguez and K.D.'s Cozy Cottage with Vintage Flair
5) Christopher & Javier's "Mid-C Techno-Industrial" Loft
Bottom Row:
6) Rodellee's Tiny Vintage Studio
7) Tim Campbell's Custom California Home
8) Haley & Ted's Bright White Cottage
9) Michael's "Comfortable Modern" Rowan Building Loft
10) Christina & Corey's Crafty Take on a Courtyard Apartment
More about stacks of books:
Using Books to Create Shelves
Inspiration: Stacking and Displaying Books
Roundup: Books on the Floor
How Do You Stack Your Books?
Where do you weigh in on the subject of stacked books?
Images: 1,4,5,6,8,10: Bethany Nauert; 2: Jason; 3: Gregory Sparks; 7: Karyn Millet; 9: Evan Koester
Coming to Terms with a Knockoff: Original vs. Reproduction Furniture Design
Monica & Austin's Charming Bungalow
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Ercol Bar Stool
True Greek Recipe: Paximadi Bread Salad with Tomatoes, Feta and Capers
True Greek Recipe: Paximadi Bread Salad with Tomatoes, Feta and Capers
The only book stacks are on a bathroom shelf and on a nightstand. My husband is reading those books and they're removed by him from the small stacks as he finishes them. His book stacks aren't for style, just for convenience. We have plenty of bookcases to hold all our books.
What is that glass thing? It looks a bit like drug paraphernalia.
That glass thing is a tea light holder. I think you can find them at Crate and Barrel. Or your local smoke shack. Not sure.
Cue the "stacking books crushes not only their spines but all of the spirits of the world!" crowd...
The shorter stacks are fine, and I like the book-stack-turned-side-table, but I foresee an avalanche the day someone wants the bottom book in one of those tall stacks.
I guess I get the decor appeal of stacks of books, but what a pain in the neck to have to get at a book that's farther down the pile. Or do people not ever look at the books that aren't near the top?
Nice Bong
its a tea light holder...you can clearly see the tea lights in them.
Nicely staged, but not practical for people who actually use their books.
I have A Thing like The Thing in the 9th picture. kind of like a vertical file, only 4 feet tall. Anyone know what it actually is?
Stacked books: Attempting to impress by affecting greater importance, talent, culture, etc., than is actually possessed.
@Dulcibella, Not sure, maybe some kind of map chest?
PS Or atlas stand?
The short stacks and the tall stack that is actually a bookshelf look OK to me, but the rest just look like clutter. I especially don't get the pink office, which is minimal and neat except for the two chairs with stacks of books and the art on the floor. Why not just get a small bookcase or put up a shelf? And who carefully puts their work boots on a deliberately off-kilter stack of books?
I love the pile of books on the hearth too:
"Honey, its getting cold in here - Can you throw another book on the fire?"
The lady on #6 seems to be proud over her stack of books.
As someone who really does love to read, most of these make me shudder. As someone pointed out, completely impractical if you actually want to read a book in one of those towering stacks. Also the workboots on the books just looks awful to me. I wouldn't want to put shoes on top of one of the few inanimate objects I actually have some kind of respect for. Sure, our bookshelves are reflections of us and it's nice to arrange things in an aesthetically pleasing manner, but in some of these pictures, the books seem to be mere accessories and I can't enjoy the visual appeal because that fact really irks me.
Once read, books should be shared with others. Unless you collect first editions, why clutter your home with dust collecting stacks? Savor a few that you reference often (and I mean OFTEN) and donate the rest. Others will share in your knowledge and you'll free up precious real estate in your home.
I do stack my books but not because I think of them as decor, just for efficient use of space. I have a Sapien shelf for most (like the 5th picture). Other books are on my cubitec shelving, I alter between regular standing up and stacking.
I don't allow my book purchases to exceed the space I have. If I want more books, some have to go to Friends of the Library or to loved ones.
Those house tours where the books are out of control freak me out a bit, I think there is a serious one now on nymag.com. I always feel its one step away from hoarding.
Also a fan of the Kindle!
We have books stacked around the house, but it is a result of moving them from the bottom shelves and away from the fast growing reach of our 10 month old. He would think book towers on the floor are the best thing ever.
NOOK!
I have huge issues with the opening phrase of this post:
" We're huge fans of using books as a decorative element"
This implies that books were bought for their decorative usefulness.
My house could be overun with books (occupational hazard, we are an Historian/Archivist and a Design store manager) but the books have been tamed behind the glass doors of Ikeas Billy system. Certainly the books are attractively arranged behind those glass doors, but to use books for workboots? Candles?
Beverages? For shame!
anyone know where the tree stump candleholder came from??