There is something undeniably pleasing about a well stocked bookcase. Other people’s hold the promise of spotting volumes you own, creating a spirit of kinship. Unknown tomes inspire curiosity and envy. What other possession could create such a window on the psyche? A visible curriculum vitae, of someone’s career, hobbies and passions. Where a person has come from and where they hope to be going.

In the spring of 2020 when J. K. Rowling re-arranged her bookshelves in rainbow colours, I joined many commentators in having a mild sense of horror. How on earth would you find the book you were looking for? There is some puritan sense that the value of the book, the beauty, lies in what it contains, rather than what it looks like. We are urged to never judge a book by it’s cover, no matter how lovely. On reflection, and after spending many happy hours trying to identify the books on Rowling’s shelves, I think I was being unfair. My own, much more modest collection, is organised by theme and date of acquisition and size. A system almost impenetrable to anyone but me, so why not by colour of the spine? The effect is certainly visually striking, and in an age of remote working with video conference the look of ones bookcase is more important than ever.

So what to do, if you have no interest in books or literature, but still want to have the visual effect of a well stocked and colour coordinated library? Fortunately Juniper Books have you covered:

Inside the Picture Perfect—and Highly Lucrative—Business of Book Styling

Without having to trouble yourself with what the books contain, you can purchase colour coordinated books by the foot! 

When we curate books by the foot, we preserve the organic look of the books as published while creating an organized and uniform looking shelf or library. We pay attention to the details of each book we select, ensuring the books sit well together in terms of color, size, publication era, and the decorative appeal of the spines. The text on the spines will vary in color.

Juniper Books

If your conscience cannot quite get past judging a book by it’s contents, then Juniper Books also produce some lovely (if quite expensive) dust jackets for classic book series. Harry Potter is well represented, but Strike is likely to have to wait until the series conclusion. In the wake of the much trumpeted story in the right-wing press of a book binder removing Rowling’s name from copies of the novels, I was a little disappointed to see Rowling’s name featuring on only one of the four sets offered.