Re-covered Books…

In college I studied History. Along with my degree, I also graduated with a collection of hundreds of history books. Unable to bring myself to part with them, I now have shelves full of them. The books are interesting, but they can also be kind of an eyesore. They all have bright, heavily decorated jackets/covers, and when I throw them all on a shelf together there is no way to keep it from looking like an unorganized mess.

My next goal in (decorating) life, is to tackle new shelves and a way to make these books look a bit cleaner. Lately I’ve been looking into all the different options available for covering books. I’m mostly looking for options that would leave the covers undamaged and could be removable. So far I like the idea of white/neutral covers with the titles handwritten along the spines. The idea of covering my hundreds of books kind of overwhelms me, but I have a feeling it will be worth it in the end. Has anyone out there tackled a project like this? I’m anxious for advice or tidbits on your successes/failures…

(images above: 1. Floral print covered books.  2. Ballard-inspired covered books with wax seals. 3. Books covered with antique maps.  4. Paper covered books with handwritten spines.  5. Kraft paper covered books. )