Thrifty side table

This is a Show & Tell carnival my blogging friend, Leigh, from Tales from Bloggeritaville started last week. The idea is to showcase a thrifty find. She shows off her fabulous new/old eyewear this week.

I have lots of thrifty finds if I think about it hard enough, so I hope to contribute to this carnival a lot.

This being my first week I decided to showcase a good use of materials I already had available. I purchased these art books when they were on the bookstore discount tables. I got some for Christmas from family and friends, too. These books take up a lot of shelf space (most are even too tall to stand upright) and to be honest, I don't look through them very often. About a hundred years ago...OK the early 90's...I stacked these books up next to my couch and decided to use them as a side table. The thick, slick and glossy covers on most of the books make these virtually waterproof. I usually use a coaster if I am setting a glass down, but there is hardly a need. Water just wipes right up and I've never got a ripple in the cover of a book if water has been left to dry.
Every so often I have looked for a new side table and none of them stack up to the books. The books are so easy to rearrange. A new book on the top makes it look like a new table top! The books never ever tip & they don't move if you hit them with the vacuum cleaner, either.

I noticed in the first picture of the books that my stack is not totally even - that middle part is a little skinny. I think I needed some more height when I set it up next to this particular chair. Well, that's just another reason I really like these books - you can change the height at any time.

When I first put this stack of books together I had never seen it done before. Now I have seen it done with magazines, too. It is a real good use of large books that are beautiful to look at and yet seldom used.

I hope you enjoyed my contribution to Thrifty Thursdays hosted by Tales from Bloggeritaville.

Have a great day!
Kristin