Thursday, January 13, 2011

PB inspired 'trash to treasure.'

I love getting my Pottery Barn catalog in the mail.  It makes me happy to thumb through the pages and see all the beautiful home decor.  I don't usually purchase things from them since their prices are not really in my SAHM budget ;)  But, I love getting ideas from them!  There are lots of things in there that you can easily re-create/make yourself.  Like, for example, these book bundles they are selling...
A mere $39 for a bundle of four old books with the covers ripped off and tied together with string.  I wonder how many of these they are actually selling since it seems pretty easy to find some old books and make these yourself! 
Anyway, I thought these would look great on my ladder shelf but obviously I wasn't going to purchase these from PB  ;)   I found 4 old hardcover books at a thrift store.
 I paid $1 each and if it were 'yard sale season' I'm sure I could have found some old paperbacks for a quarter.  Anyway, I didn't have any hemp string either so I had to buy that too.  I spent about $6 total on supplies but if you already have old books, you could make this for practically free!
Here is my little version.  I decided to use darker string to go better with my living room decor. 
I think it makes a nice addition to my shelves ;)
Decorchick! also did a version of a book bundle she saw in the Ballard Designs catalog.  I think Ballard is charging around $25 for their bundles.  Either way, I did mine for a very small percentage of what they are selling these things for!  I don't think my hubby would be too happy if I told him I spent $40 on some old books with the covers ripped off  ;)
p.s. I am not trying to imply that books are 'trash' by the title of this post.  I love books and think that they are important!  I just think this is a great way to re-purpose unwanted old books from a thrift store.  :)
Happy Decorating!

P.S. I'm linking up!






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4 comments:

  1. Love this idea!
    Thanks so much for sharing!

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  2. LOVE this! Quick question...where did you get your ladder shelves? I am needing one for the redecoration of our living room and do not want to spend a ton of money...

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  3. I got them from Target. I got just one when we bought our house a couple years ago and recently decided I wanted another one but they don't carry it in store anymore, I had to order it online (thought it was the exact same one but it's actually a little different, but that's neither here nor there...) It was $130, which is not 'cheap' but it's impossible to find them used (I tried) so I just bit the bullet. haha! Good luck! You'll have to post pics when you get the room finished. :)

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  4. Your book bundle turned out great. Just hopping by from Saturday Soiree.

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