It’s no secret that I love to style with books. It’s the first thing I unpacked in our new house to get on these bookshelves to help it feel like home. I am asked often where I found so many vintage books, and if I actually use them! I slowly have collected them over time, and I wanted to share my favorite places to hunt for vintage book bundles.
Places to shop for vintage book stacks and bundles:
- Local Library Sales – Our library had a yearly sale of used books for super cheap prices. I would not only get stacks for my kiddos, but I was able to find some great options for styling as well. Check your local library to see if they plan on running a book sale.
- Thrift stores – This requires a little more sifting to find some good options, but it is pretty incredible what treasures you can find at small thrift stores.
- Antique stores – I found most of my antique bound books for styling at antique stores. Prices will vary but I usually found them to be anywhere from $5-$20 a piece depending on the year, make, and condition of the book. Most of my vintage hardcover Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Boppsy Twins, etc. were all slowly collected at antique stores.
- Etsy – You can actually buy curated stacks of vintage books by color on etsy! If you are looking for good reads that are also visually appealing, check out their endless array of vintage book bundle options.
Coffee Table Books – I use so many of the books we actually have on our shelves. From cookbooks, design books, magazines, or kids books, I love being able to see things I want to reference frequently! These are some of my favorite design, cooking, and coffee table books.
To style by color or title? It felt so much easier to find books by color for me as that is just how my memory works, but I love seeing them mixed up and alphabetical order as well. I know it’s a tad controversial to flip books around so you see pages vs. the spine, but I admit sometimes a book binding can be so visually distracting that I am not against a few backward binds.
Kids books – Kids books have such vibrant and fun covers, and I know if I set them out in a stack or easy to reach baskets, they are much more likely to be used. I rotate the books in my boys room on the dresser, and it’s always the ones they are reaching for at bedtime. (You can see some of our favorite books here.)
Happy book hunting!
