Spooky Shelf Styling w/ Time Life Books

My motivation to say goodbye to the old & create space for the new is almost always centered around a change in season & the moon cycle. There aren't many routines in life that I embrace but I always restyle our family room shelves full of Time Life Books into a spooky feel for Halloween.  I can't resist transforming series with names like; Library of Curious & Unusual Facts, The Human Body, & Mysteries of the Unknown into a spooky vibe with a few added Oddities & Curiosities items.

My deep dive into the world of Time Life Books (TLB) began when Chris & Margaret Shutze of Shutze Studio were nearing completion of the walnut & onyx feature wall in our family room.  I recall Chris asking about the types of items I'd display on the custom shelving he meticulously built on site.  At the time I had envisioned mid century modern vases, various accessories, & “some” interesting books.  It was 2015 & coffee table books hadn’t found their resurgence yet.  I recall walking through countless aisles of books at retail & thrift book stores and realizing two things; the books would be expensive & they ultimately would not achieve my vision.  Determined to fill the shelves with quality esthetically pleasing books I left countless used & new bookstores empty handed. Until the day I wondered mildly-cross-eyed through West Side Books, in the Denver Highlands neighborhood, & my eyes landed on my first TLB series.  The consistent bindings, color palettes & the unique subtle intricacies are what lured me in. And once I started to delve into the unique topics I was hooked & on a path to collect every TLB series I could find. 

I can’t say for sure which set I first landed my eyes on but I can recall the look on the shopkeeper’s face when I began to stack every single TLB available in the store on the counter in my purchase pile. My most vivid memory of the moment was the look of disapproval, disappointment & confusion on the shopkeeper’s face. Given the vast depth & variety of quality books available in her store she couldn’t make sense of my choices.  Honestly, I was a bit embarrassed to admit those were my selections but still inquired about whether there were any more I might have overlooked.  I recall attempting to convey my intention & purpose for the books & in the slightest way she rallied behind my efforts & brought a number of notable & more scholarly book series to my attention.  The reality is everyone experiences books in their own respective ways.  I am innately drawn to their organic qualities, the physical composition & the look & feel inside & out.  The words are not my key motivator but clearly important to her & also to most. I ultimately embraced some of her suggestions assuming she must have known better.  At the end of the day, I purchased every single TLB there, a few small quality book collections she recommended & a handful of books in color palettes & topics I enjoy.  I left that day with so many books that a dolly was required to transport them to my car.  Today most of the more scholarly book series she recommended are squirreled away in the basement in less prominent locations.

In the end, the walnut shelves began their journey with “almost” enough books & have evolved into what has undoubtedly become a massive explosion of books & natural collectibles I’ve collected over time.  I’ve always been a “More is more” kind of person & have ALWAYS overfilled glasses, bowls, shelves, drawers. basements, cars, bags, etc.  Because, More is MORE!  However, I am working towards embracing a “More-or-less is More” path.

But for now,…More is MORE & I naturally gravitate toward being a Maximalist.

Frequently Asked Questions…

I typically take offense to this question but I know that’s driven by my insecurities.

The answer is NO.  I haven’t read any of them cover to cover.  I’m 99.9% sure I have undiagnosed dyslexia & most of the reading I do is by listening to audiobooks.  However, over the years, as I purchased each series, I would flip through & read them in the way I read magazines.  I usually start at the back, flipping through pages, stopping to read areas that catch my eye.  It’s a pretty quick flip TBH.  Sorry to disappoint the OG bibliophiles out there.

How many book series do you own?

I’m proud & embarrassed to say I own over 50 series which are spread throughout the house & their location is typically dictated by the color of the books but at times the topic could be the reason.  A few years ago I set some parameters around future purchases. 1) They need to be either in a neutral color palette or 2) a topic of extreme interest.  In the recent past I’ve added a few art series with black bindings.  Although, I’m sure I’ll break that rule at some point since I like to color outside the lines.

How much $$$ did you spend (waste) on all of these books?

The good news about buying the least desirable books in the shop is they are typically priced accordingly and those books were a bargain priced at $1-4 a piece vs/ the $10-14 per book they sell for these days.  I must mention there are a handful of other publishers with similar type series including BPC, HS Stuttman, Boston Publishing, NYT Publishing.  I have splurged on a collection or two & the most notably one is Man, Myth & Magic by Richard Cavendish, which is a 24 volume set published by BPC that I paid $240 for seven years ago & now seems to be selling for roughly $500.  I appreciate this series for many reasons; it’s eccentric & weird, the art is quite literally out of this world, & the style & colors are perfection. 

Is there a favorite place you like to buy books?

I purchase books whenever & wherever they are inexpensive.  Used book stores, Goodwill, Arc, Habitat for Humanity, Estate Sales, Craigslist, Etsy & Antique stores.

Which series do you love the most?

I’ve already mentioned by coveted Man, Myth & Magic series.  I also love The Family Creative Workshop series by Plenary Publications, & I have one book series that scored a spot in a Better Homes & Gardens magazine photoshoot, along with some of my other priceless possessions, at Margaret & Chris’s Longmont farm in 2018.  The books were the right color, style & subject for the open kitchen shelving.  They are by far my most viewed TLB series.