Ball bearings? Weight plates? Antique irons?

July 19, 2018 11:26 AM

Please give me your most creative/unusual/stealthily practical ideas for simple household objects that can serve as bookends.

Mr. Bath and I are finally unpacking and unstacking our books after our most recent move. We left our old, heavy bookshelves behind and are looking to replace them with the most portable, least expensive ones that we can find, all of which seem to have open frames these days, so we can't keep our books upright using the sides of the shelf alone anymore. We clearly need some bookends.

We'd like to use something with a little more heft (and that's more attractive) than the metal bookends for sale in office supply stores, but even a cheap pair of bookends from Target runs about $30, which will add up quickly when multiplied by a dozen or more shelves. What inexpensive, heavy household objects or hardware store items could we press (sorry) into service this way? Things with shapes that are interesting/aesthetically appealing on their own? It feels like there are lots of possibilities, but I can't quite put my finger on them, and I imagine that MeFites will have some ingenious suggestions about things in our cupboards, tool box, etc. that we're overlooking.

(I know that we could stack some or all of the books after laying them flat, but that seems like a sub-optimal use of space given the number of books that we're trying to unpack and we'd like to be able to grab most of our books without having to readjust stacks to make sure that things aren't going to fall over.)

posted by Anita Bath to Home & Garden (14 answers total)

Kind of hard to say without knowing what spare heavy things you have laying around. Mini Kettle Bells or weights come to mind, as do spare amazon boxes, and large decorative rocks.
posted by bbqturtle at 11:38 AM on July 19, 2018

Best answer: Other books, of course! Except you might want to read them, and there goes the book end.

Since you're looking for interesting things, why not wander yard, estate and garage sales, or flea markets?

You can always get big, hefty rocks from hikes or beach walks, or see what is being dug up at construction sites.

Or you could get really rough and use chunks of concrete and brick from construction sites.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:40 AM on July 19, 2018 [3 favorites]

Books stacked sideways. Urns. Vases filled with sand. Coffee cans with quotes printed out and wrapped around them, filled with sand. Anything filled with sand. Statues. Routers. Magazine holders.
posted by DarlingBri at 11:54 AM on July 19, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Antique Irons make terrible book ends, I've tried them.

When I had a bookstore we painted the metalbookends from office supply stores with spray paint to have them in bright colors. If you're crafty painting them or decoupaging them with modpodge could be fun too. Get cheap toys like a dinosaur from the $1 store cut it in half stick it on either end of the bookends & spray paint. Fancy novelty bookends for a few bucks.

If the book case has 2 poles at the end, wedging a piece of wood in there between the poles & the books would act as a bookend.

Stack your books vertically.

These are nice & simple and that style comes in a few different price points. If you google bookends on Amazon there are a lot of metal ones in fun shapes & sizes at the same price point as the boring Office shop ones.
posted by wwax at 12:06 PM on July 19, 2018 [2 favorites]

Jar of marbles. Old vintage wooden boxes. Cast iron shelf brackets. Cast iron anything, actually. A cactus in a heavy enough pot/ pot with enough soil. Plant pots on their own can be beautiful too, easy to put heavy stuff in. Big square blocks of old wood.
posted by stillnocturnal at 12:33 PM on July 19, 2018

Best answer: Interesting lamp bases if you can find heavy ones, I see lots of lamps selling for very little second hand.
posted by stillnocturnal at 12:37 PM on July 19, 2018

Cats. Something light-looking - shells, balls - filled with lead. Painted brinks. Big old batteries. Sledgehammers.
posted by runincircles at 12:38 PM on July 19, 2018

I had a very old pair of Russian dancing boots that had been an aunt's when she was a child, they made great bookends. I kept my ankle weights in them. Old cowboy boots would be interesting too and child size rain boots. Thrift stores are good for this type of thing. I had an old cowboy boot that I stuck a plastic tumbler in and used as a vase for roses. My decorating style could probably best be described as eclectic.
posted by BoscosMom at 1:16 PM on July 19, 2018

Best answer: If you're willing to spend a minimal amount of money, L brackets work just fine. Lay them long-side-down and put the books on top of them - the weight of those first few books will anchor them. They're certainly cheaper than purpose-made bookends!
posted by restless_nomad at 1:37 PM on July 19, 2018 [4 favorites]

Make a mold of your hand holding up a book. Cast in concrete. Repeat.
posted by ananci at 3:01 PM on July 19, 2018 [1 favorite]

The last couple of bookends I made were samples of kitchen counter marble ("marble"? may be composite...) - approx 6" x 8" x 0.75" and heavy - glued to ancient, cheapo, bent metal bookends.

I suggest grabbing a tube of silicone-based all-purpose glue ("Goop" or equivalent) and hitting up your local Goodwills/Thrift Shops for inspiration.
posted by Anoplura at 7:13 PM on July 19, 2018

I'm not sure how much you need these bookends to look prestigious and how much you just need to keep your books on your shelves. If you just need to keep your books on your shelves, lace a string back and forth between the front and rear poles at each side of the bookcase.
posted by meaty shoe puppet at 9:58 PM on July 19, 2018 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Glass blocks, bookshelf speakers, cast iron door stops
posted by a humble nudibranch at 10:58 PM on July 19, 2018

Since it is not the holiday season, no one suggested uneaten fruit cakes. Oversight.
posted by Cranberry at 12:20 AM on July 20, 2018 [1 favorite]