Simple viral images of a home decor idea encourage us to display our books with the page edges out, to produce a uniform neutral-color look. By the way - Following a trend isn’t necessarily bad, sometimes it’s a good thing. As for the one you’re about to see, well, I’ll let you decide that one.
Books, front to back or back to front? Neutrals-lovers and minimalists
are drawn to the calming color scheme of back to front (or is it front to
back?), while others find the spines-to-the-back display super silly, messy or
just down right wrong. I can appreciate both sides of the book design argument
and to be honest, I am a neutral-lover and minimalist, so if I don’t have to
‘find’ a book title on the shelves, backward might just be the way I’d go
I totally understand that it looks nice and the yellowed,
aged pages look earthy, worn, and minimalistic. Plus, it’s more neutral than
covers of every color. But at the same time, there’s so much to be said against
it.
By showing the inners, we are taking away from the books by
making them a piece of decor. At the same time, it's a little silly to show off
the covers of all your books just to appear literary.
Which do you lean towards: the new trend of backwards books
or the fashioned way, with their titles where we can easily see and find them?
The library at El Escorial in
Spain shelved books with the spines to
the wall, in order to protect the leather bindings. But the page edges
were gilded, and the book titles were written on the gilding. And this isn’t
the only place books are displayed that way.
Loganberry Books in Cleveland Ohio looks like your
typical literary wonderland — but it's so much more than that. On March 1 2017,
this bookstore displayed all books authored by men backward to illustrate how much more prominent men are in
the written world than women, just in time for Women's History Month. It
was Eye-Opening
So, this recent decor
idea displays no titles. What would be your impression if you went to someone's
house and saw all their books displayed this way?
#Backwardsbooks has made its way onto the viral screen. Many
decor, home, and apartment sites have been displaying it too. People are
rearranging their bookshelves so that the plain inners of the book face outwards rather than the distinct and
colorful spine. It’s supposed to be a more modern and aesthetic way of displaying
your books.
Like a said, I try to see both sides of everything, but my
idea is this: Having your book spines facing out isn’t showy at all, it’s just
what we’ve done with social
media that’s made it out to seem that way. So, if you’re in on this slightly
impractical trend because you like the look of it, then go ahead. But don’t
just do it for the social acceptance.
What do you think of this interior design trend?
