Literary Decorations for a Room of One’s Own

Posted by Sarah Fox

Virginia Woolf famously said, “A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.” We couldn’t agree more, but we would like to add to it a little bit: a woman also needs some amazing literary decorations in said room (after her aforementioned money goes towards paying rent and all that). After all, how else is she supposed to get inspiration?

Fortunately for all you aspiring lady authors, we’ve compiled our favorite literary items to decorate your authorial apartment.

 

Before you decorate your room, you’ve got to spruce up your desk. In order to write great fiction, we recommend an amazing notebook, and they don’t get much more inspirational than these notebooks with famous book covers. When you’re writing, you can imagine you are writing something as grand as the cover suggests. 

 

You might have a hard time sharpening these Pride and Prejudice pencils, since you probably won’t want to lose some of the lively text! Fortunately, the beautiful pencil case is forever; you can always have it on your desk for display.

 

We all know the struggle of trying to find the perfect first line. This mug might help you out, since has the first lines of famous books written on it. We’ll warn you, though: it can have the reverse effect. You can read these beautiful beginnings and get intimidated about your ability to live up to them. When that happens, we recommend you hide it behind the pile of papers accumulating on your desk…which you’ll almost certainly amass.

 

Some kids have movie stars or famous rockers on their walls. We say, forget that. If you want to be a world-famous author, you are gonna need these posters to remind you of your literary forebears. Who needs to look at a picture of the guy who sang “Wild Horses” when you can read a quote about them by Virginia Woolf? 

 

Every writer needs a nap, and we can’t think of a better place to rest your head than on this Alice and Wonderland pillow.  As soon as you shut your eyes, you’ll dream of white rabbits and mad hatters. Just be careful with any red queens you may meet in Dreamland – you may lose your head! (And who can write without that?)

 

When you’re writing during a midnight dreary, you’ll need a little illumination. You will be in darkness nevermore with this Poe-themed lamp. We’d just caution against falling asleep next to it, since Poe’s grumpy face is practically guaranteed to give you nightmares. You’ll wake up with a hammering heart (hopefully in your chest, where it belongs, and not beneath your floorboards).

 

Light switch plates don’t leave much room for the imagination – don’t you find yourself wanting to jazz them up every now and again? With this Anne of Green Gables light switch plate, your room will be brightened by L.M. Montgomery’s words. Instead of staring out the window, waiting for an idea to smack you in the face, you’ll be dreaming up a romance that is almost as good as that of Anne and Gilbert (let’s all be realistic about our goals here).

 

These Narnia-inspired bookends are nothing short of magical. Who doesn’t want their books guarded by a lion and evil queen? Nobody is going to steal your copy of The Screwtape Letters with these figurines on watch. If they do, there will be Hell to pay. 

Sarah Fox

Sarah Fox

Sarah Fox is an editor, writer, writing consultant, and pop culture enthusiast. Besides regularly contributing to Quirk Books’ blog, she has published an edition of William Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure. She lives in Washington D.C. with her husband and Pembroke Welsh Corgi. You can find her online at www.thebookishfox.com.