Outside, I enjoy those books too--- my late FIL went to school with Ferrol Sams and we love his novels. I hadn't realized he wrote essays as well. "When attending art shows, I swear off coffee table books but I am weak." We share that weakness, lol. Seems I am "always" never going to buy another huge book... Beagles, that room is fantastic, and I do see your pile of books peeking out from under that chair to the left :-) I'm with you on the kindle, but every now and then I like to hold a real book. Even though I find myself pushing the edge of the page instead of turning it (hanging head). No screen can reproduce the heft and color of those prints in large books, there is something about a good quality art print that is somehow more convincing than an image on a screen. Sloe gin, over the past decade or so I've seen many people putting lovely shelving in their dining rooms to combine functions or simply bring books into a room that doesn't often see them. I love that look, of a literary dining room! And your basket sounds eminently practical, we use our shagreen boxes and ceramic bowls for the same purpose--- the "stuff" has got to be corralled somehow. I have seen that Circus book, Robo, and the Atomic Ranch book also, they are both marvelous! It's clear that our collective enjoyment of these tomes is at least partly for the esthetic quality of the books themselves in addition to the content. I suppose that's what makes them "useful" decor :-) In some cases they might function purely as decor, as the leather books you've used, tinam. Have you seen the book purses that are so popular in some circles? Kate Spade has or had a few, and there's quite a cottage industry on Etsy making real old books into small handbags. They aren't a tenth big enough for me, but I love looking at them!

In a similar situation, went to an art store in the mall, not the place that sells only high end originals, but one that sell reproductions in nice frames. The first place wasn't so helpful, but the women at the second place knew her art and had a ton of books we looked through to find it. Good luck.

Hi belindawong, I'm sorry, but linking to (I assume) your site where you are selling, could be considered as SPAM, and you could be banned from further posting. You might want to contact GW and ask that your post be pulled...see Contact us link at the bottom of any page. btw...the link on your Member Page is also in violation to the Terms of Service you agreed to, so you might want to fix that too. Sorry your sales are not good. It could be a result of the rough economy. hth. Here is a link that might be useful: TERMS OF SERVICE FOR GARDENWEB NETWORK

The second one is Cezanne -- La Maison du Pere Lacroix