There’s nothing like a well-appointed lounge bookshelf. And by that, I don’t imply one which’s stuffed with artfully organized fashionable objects, the most recent New York Occasions greatest sellers, or bookshelf sconces (although lighting by no means hurts!). I imply a shelf that holds particular items and books that put your character on show and convey you pleasure — you realize, what they’re calling “bookshelf wealth” nowadays. Bonus factors for any objects which might be as helpful as they’re stunning. And that’s the place fake guide packing containers are available for me. At their greatest, they’re a cute (and typically cheap) method to fill house on a shelf and conceal little odds and ends — issues like remotes, chargers, possibly even a spare set of home keys — that in any other case may get misplaced in a drawer.
Perhaps you’ve seen these ornamental accents earlier than at a paper items retailer or stumbled upon them at a present store. Meant to move for actual books — some extra convincingly than others — they’re basically storage packing containers printed with spines, covers, and, in lots of circumstances, even trompe-l’oeil pages. They’re not a brand new phenomenon; I vaguely keep in mind my mom having a set on the desk in our kitchen in my childhood residence, they usually in all probability existed lengthy earlier than then. And I’ll be the primary to confess that they’re a bit of gimmicky, which is able to in all probability make them excellent fodder for TikTok (in the event that they’re not already).
However what I like about fake guide packing containers, although, is that they’re an exquisite method to stash just a few issues — possibly papers or ephemera you’re holding onto for safekeeping — hidden in plain sight. After which they mix proper into your books with out anybody actually understanding, except they appear a bit of nearer otherwise you clue them in.
And you realize what? The designs of fake guide packing containers have come a great distance. Generic floral motifs and textbook-like tomes nonetheless exist, positive, however at shops like HomeGoods and T.J. Maxx, you will discover ones that appear like your favourite artist’s biography — emblazoned with copy paintings and for lower than $10 at that. Goal has had them in its Greenback Spot part. Manufacturers like Puebco make tiny vintage-look volumes full with pretend library name quantity labels. However the firm whose fake guide packing containers have most lately caught my eye? House furnishings model OKA, whose newest assortment with celebrated clothier Adam Lippes incorporates a set of three fake books, as proven above.
A bestseller for OKA, these guide packing containers are available many patterns, however I really like the candy ticking stripe of the Everett that’s unique to the Adam Lippes collaboration. I may think about a stack of those on a nook of a desk or combined into a colourful bookcase in a vintage-inspired lounge. You can even set them on a nightstand with out drawers for a classy, one-and-done resolution to neaten all of the stuff that tends to build up bedside.
At $65 for a set of three, they’re not precisely low cost, however they’re sizable and durable, even the smallest of them. I truly assume one would make a stunning method to wrap a particular present for one in all your most bookish pals. However you’d have to interrupt up the set, and once more, you possibly can in all probability discover a cheaper model at an enormous field if you wish to attempt that specific concept out.
I’m not advocating you change your entire actual books with fake ones. That’d be ridiculous! All I’m saying is just a few fake guide packing containers will be good in a shelfie combine, particularly when you’re attempting to fill your cabinets with out making them appear visually overrun with bitsy stuff.
