Design Inspiration: Rainbow Book Displays

I've been absolutely dying over rainbow-ordered bookshelves for a while now. I am a prolific reader and incorrigible collector, and I've never liked the kind of bookshelf displays where there were one or two books and a whole lot of vases or those weird, useless wicker spheres people seem to like so much (??). Yet I recognize that shelves absolutely packed with books have little visual appeal. Enter the organization-by-color phenomenon (yeah, it's everywhere, but it's so awesome, it should be).

How incredible is this bright and airy library by Craft & Creativity on flickr? IKEA shelves and an incredible effort in organization and sorting. What an eye. Oh lord how I love it.

New library, originally uploaded by Craft & Creativity.

This version creates such a different mood with the dark wood and colorful accessories. Love the deep blue walls, too. Just stunning. This is precisely how I would want my library to look (possible in my dreams only, of course- le sigh).

bookshelf spectrum revisited originally uploaded by Chotda aka Santos

This one is more simplistic, and gives off a sort of bachelor-feel with the open shelving instead of bookcases. This would look terrific with inset shelves (the ones with no visible hardware that look like they're floating).

Rainbow Books originally uploaded by Andrew Coulter Enright

If you own a huge number of black and white rather than colored books, here is a way to balance the rainbow with the monochromatic to create a beautifully symmetrical look:

Rainbow of Books originally uploaded by MindOnFire

...And if you don't have enough books to fill the shelves, or prefer the spare, minimalistic look, try coordinating a few spines with other objects in their color family like this lovely display (yeah, I know, I said I didn't like vases in bookcases so much- I make an exception here.) Also, varying vertical and horizontal placement can create visual interest.

Rainbow Order originally uploaded by paperpie

Have you thought about or actually accomplished organizing your books by color? Do you like this look or are you "over it" since "everyone's doing it"? I like to be a little different so it is strange to think about adopting something super-trendy, but sometimes trends stick because they are just plain awesome, so I'm calling this aesthetically pleasing idea wonderful enough to not care less whether everyone else likes it, too.

Rainbow Romance: Lucky Finds

We came home from vacation to find our first two issues of Lucky magazine!

When we had first heard about a shopping magazine, we were highly skeptical. However, Etsy members were offered a super-cheap subscription, complete with free faux-black leather mini-tote (aaah! We can't resist a freebie!), so we decided to subscribe-- just in case we were missing any fabulous deals for our readers (and also in case we decide to care briefly about what's popular rather than just what's gorgeous to us).

We are thrilled that we "splurged", as we've already discovered a couple of fantastic thrifty resources and were inspired to search for less pricey alternatives to a few luscious pieces we spotted.

We just ordered two of these chiffon handkerchief-hem skirts to layer under shorter skirts.

What a fabulous solution for those just-too-short pieces and to add some extra color to an outfit! (OK we admit we ordered one in black... we couldn't help it). $16.10 at discountdance.com - Lots of colors, and so cheap... can't wait to incorporate them!


Apparently Forever21 has launched a new line called Love 21 that is, quite frankly, a little bit less slutty (longer hems, flowier fabrics, as Lucky says). We absolutely adore this dress in caution orange which is making us possibly consider lifting the ban on orange in our personal wardrobe!

It also comes in a hot turquoise they're calling jade... This cut is so universally flattering, and you really can't beat the price of $22.80 and the semi-synthetic fiber (rayon- did you know it was made from cellulose, not oil like nylon?)


One of the most adorable trends in the "spotlight" was bustier dresses, and we love this flirty but innocent-looking pale yellow eyelet-trim version:

This one is cotton and viscose (another semi-synthetic made from fibrous organic material rather than oil), from Charlotte Russe. At $29.99 it just about busts our summer-dress budget but the detailing is awfully cute and very similar to a Calvin Klein we tried on at Marshall's that was still $50 even on clearance.


They found and we loved a watery-print dress by Necessary Objects for $57 (that now seems to be sold out), but this fantastic skirt from Forever21 captures the same spirit for only $17.80!

Target has a new designer/brand, Tracey Feith, turning out really super cute, flirty dresses. We weren't the biggest fans of the floral one Lucky chose, but this adorable cobalt and purple-- with more eyelet-trim-- spaghetti-strap one makes us very happy, especially with the zipper to harden up all of that ruffling.
Again, slightly expensive for our personal tastes at $31.48 but keep an eye on it and surely that clearance price will continue to drop.


They also featured a gorgeous cobalt tie-dye swimsuit (pictured in link only) that hurt our theoretical pocketbook, even at 30% off the original $128, so we sought out something similar, and found what we think might even be more beautiful!



Apparently Amazon carries Newport News clearance. Who knew? This one in ombre multicolor is $39.00, down from $59.00.


We had never heard of WindsorStore.com, which seems to have a pretty awesome selection, and while there are plenty of pricey pieces, we found this absolutely demure and delectable little purple floral on sale for $29.00. Not bad!


As always, hope you love the finds- can't wait to hear from you- and happy shopping!