sfgirlbybay has a great post on all those cool non-traditional bookshelves out there. What’s great about these is that they strip away the container and expose the beauty of the books. (However, there is something to be said for those great wooden bookshelves… if you have the space.) Whether they’re new or old, paperback or hardcover, fiction or non-fiction, there is beauty in all those bindings and covers, not to mention what’s inside!

Then I ran into this image over at c-monster. It’s a piece by Mike Stilkey, who uses discarded books as canvases, as well as sculpture material. I think it’s awesome how everyone is reinterpreting the bookshelf.

Interior design/window treatment company TOSO is holding their 4th window design competition. The theme for this year is “coziness by the window”. All you have to do is send in 1 photo of your definition of “coziness by the window” and you’re automatically entered.

There are 2 categories, professional & student, that offer prizes of $10,000 and $3,000, respectively. But to qualify for the student category you have to be enrolled in a Japanese educational institution.