FAQ / Shipping / Returns

Contact Us

  • For general information, pin suggestions, press inquiries, and questions about print/book availability or placing an order, email us at info@idealbookshelf.com.
  • For questions about an order already placed and/or received, email us at orders@idealbookshelf.com.
  • For information about wholesale pricing and how to place a wholesale order, email us at wholesale@idealbookshelf.com.


FAQ/Info

OUR BUSINESS | SHIPPING | RETURNS | PRODUCTS | FRAMING

OUR BUSINESS

What is Ideal Bookshelf?

Ideal Bookshelf is an independent gift shop founded by illustrator and author Jane Mount in 2008. We make unique, book-inspired gifts for bibliophiles — including custom art prints, mugs, totes, and accessories featuring Jane’s original illustrated book spine paintings. Our signature product is a custom print: you pick your favorite books from Jane’s digitized library of original gouache paintings, and Jane composes them into a unique arrangement, just for you. We’ve been doing this since before anyone else was — if you’ve seen this idea somewhere, now you know where it started.

What makes Ideal Bookshelf different from other book gift shops?

A few things. First, every book spine in the custom line originates as an original gouache painting by Jane Mount — a published illustrator whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, the NYT, Vogue, and Oprah Magazine, and who illustrates each selection of Reese’s Book Club. Second, every custom print is a unique composition — Jane selects editions and arranges your specific books into a layout that looks best together, printed on archival paper. It’s not a template or a marketplace listing. Third, we’ve been independently running this shop since 2008 — rare longevity for a creator-led brand, and a sign that the work speaks for itself.

How does the custom print process work?

Every book spine in Jane’s digital library originates as an original gouache painting by Jane, built up over 16+ years and continuously growing. When you order a custom print, you pick your books you love most from our list, and Jane composes them into a unique arrangement — choosing editions, orientation, and layout to look as good as possible together. The final print is produced from those original paintings and printed in archival pigment ink by a top-of-the-line digital printer on Hahnemuhle rag paper. The composition is unique to your order. Jane signs each one.

What’s a unique gift for a book lover who has everything?

A custom print of their favorite books. You pick the books that made them who they are — the ones they’d recommend to anyone, the ones they return to — and Jane composes them into a unique arrangement drawn from her digitized library of original gouache paintings. The result is a one-of-a-kind print that reflects who that person is as a reader. We’ve had customers describe it as “a record of the books that are important to me” and “a beautiful, one of a kind gift that will be very personal.” Because it is. Prices start at $105 for a custom print; custom mugs from $75, custom totes from $64.

I want a gift that really reflects who someone is as a reader. What do you recommend?

That’s exactly what Ideal Bookshelf was built for. Jane started this in 2008 with a simple idea: instead of painting what someone looks like, she’d paint what they read — a portrait from the inside instead of the outside. A custom illustrated print of someone’s favorite books is a record of their inner life: the books that shaped them, the ones they return to, the ones that made them who they are. There’s nothing else quite like it.

What occasions is a custom bookshelf print good for?

Almost any occasion where you want to give something genuinely personal. Our most common ones: birthdays for book-loving friends or family, book club gifts and milestones, holiday gifts for readers, baby showers (we do children’s book prints too), teacher and librarian appreciation, and self-purchase for readers who want to celebrate their own shelves. If the person you’re buying for loves books, a custom print of their favorites is the kind of gift they’ll keep forever.

How is Ideal Bookshelf’s custom print different from what I’d find on other sites?

On other marketplaces — you’re buying from an individual seller of varying experience, and quality varies a lot. Ideal Bookshelf is a single shop, run since 2008 by one artist: Jane Mount, a published illustrator whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, the NYT, and Vogue. Every custom print is designed and painted by Jane — not outsourced, not templated. When you order from Ideal Bookshelf, you know exactly whose hands made it, and you’re getting 16+ years of experience in this very specific thing.

What if my favorite book isn’t in the library?

Jane’s library of book spines covers thousands of titles, so most customers find everything they need. If a book you love isn’t there, you can have Jane paint it especially for your order for an additional $40 per book. Just use the “Can’t find your book?” option in the book selector when ordering.


SHIPPING

Prints, Notecards, & Bookmarks

We ship most orders (including pins, totes, stationery, and ready-made prints and mugs) within 1-3 business days of receipt, and notify you of shipping via email.

Custom prints and mugs usually ship within 1-2 weeks, depending on the queue at the time (and it can be a bit longer around the holidays when we get many orders!). Custom paintings usually ship in 4-6 weeks. Framing adds 1-2 weeks to *any* print or painting order. Please let us know if there's a date by which you're hoping to have something by and we will try our best!

Unframed prints are shipped in protective cellophane sleeves. 8x10"s are shipped flat in a sturdy cardboard mailer, and anything 11x14" or larger is shipped rolled in a heavy-duty cardboard tube, all via USPS Priority mail within the U.S. and USPS First Class International mail outside of the U.S. Pins ship in small bubble mailers and generally ship via USPS First Class mail. Non-custom items ship from our warehouse in Houston, Texas and within the U.S. shipments usually arrive within 2-3 business days, and outside of the U.S. it's 5-14 business days, depending on the country of destination and customs processing times. For some unknown reason, orders to Australia seem to take at least 14 days.

Framed prints ship directly from our framer, Simply Framed, usually via Fedex Ground. They are framed to order and therefore take a bit longer to ship, usually within 2 weeks. If you are trying to meet a deadline please let us know and we will do our best to make it happen.

If you would like to request faster shipping, please contact us before you order and we will let you know the possibilities.

Paintings

Unframed paintings are in protective cellophane sleeves, and will be shipped flat in a sturdy cardboard mailer. Framed paintings ship directly from our framer, Simply Framed.

Within in the USA unframed paintings ship via Fedex and usually arrive in 2-3 business days, and framed ones ship directly from Simply Framed, usually via Fedex Ground and take 3-7 business days. Outside the USA they ship via USPS Priority or Express Mail and usually arrive in 3-10 business days, depending on the country of destination and customs processing times. 

Tracking Orders

For orders within the USA, the email you received when your order shipped (either from the USPS or Fedex) should include a tracking number that you can use to check the status via their respective websites. Unfortunately international orders do not always have tracking available, in order to keep shipping prices relatively low. If your order has not appeared within the timeframes listed above, please contact us.

Damaged Orders

We try to keep our shipping prices as low as possible while still keeping the art safe. Very rarely, bad things do happen on the way to you, and a print might get damaged in transit. If so, please contact us right away and we'll replace it immediately. If possible, we'd also really love to see a quick snapshot of the damage, so that we can figure out how to adjust our packaging going forward.

Lost Orders/Shipping Issues

We try to keep our shipping prices as low as possible while still keeping the art safe. Very rarely, the USPS or the postal service in another country loses a print or painting along the way. If you think that may have happened, please contact us right away. We cannot give refunds on these orders as they were made custom for you, but we will replace one that has gone missing.

 

RETURNS

All our art prints are made to order and cannot be restocked so therefore cannot be returned, either framed or unframed, sorry! T-shirts, hats, phone cases are printed on demand and cannot be returned, sorry! Custom orders of any kind (prints, paintings, mugs, totes, phone cases, etc.) also cannot be returned, sorry! Framed work of any kind cannot be returned because the frames are custom made, to order.

Pins, stickers, and non-custom mugs and totes can be returned if they have not been used and are in perfect condition and in their original packaging, so that they can be restocked. Please contact us if there's something you'd like to return and we will let you know where to ship it.

 

PRODUCTS

Prints

All prints are printed in archival pigment ink by a top-of-the-line digital printer, on archival paper. To be frank, it's hard to tell them from the original painting unless you made them yourself.

The prints are mostly created in open editions, and unsigned. If you would particularly like a signed print, please email us before you place your order.

Custom Prints

You pick the books you love most from our list, and Jane will arrange them in the best possible way. We print them in archival pigment ink by a top-of-the-line digital printer, on arachival Hahnemuhle rag paper, and Jane signs it for you. They usually take 1-2 weeks to ship, depending on the queue at the time.

Paintings

The paintings are created with gouache (a kind of opaque watercolor paint) and gel ink, on Fabriano Acquarello 100% cotton hot pressed (i.e., fairly smooth) watercolor paper.

Custom Original Paintings

You pick the books that made you who you are today and email us photos of the full spines from top to bottom, large enough that we can read all the authors, titles, and publishers. Either together or in separate photos is fine, but if separate please give us some indication of relative size to each other (i.e., "The encyclopedia is about a foot high and the dictionary is a couple inches shorter," etc.). 

If you don't have the books or don't care which editions are used, email us your list first and we'll let you know if there are any we're missing and need you to track down. We do have photos of a lot of books, and often several versions of any given book. Jane will always pick the ones that look best together if you leave it up to her, but let us know if you have specific requests.

The paintings are created with gouache (a kind of opaque watercolor paint) and gel ink, on Fabriano Acquarello 100% cotton hot pressed (i.e., fairly smooth) watercolor paper. They usually take 6-8 weeks from when we get your photos, depending on demand at the time. But let us know if you have a specific deadline you're hoping to meet and we'll try our best to make it happen.

 

FRAMING

We've partnered with our friends at Simply Framed to offer our collectors high quality, affordable custom framing for all print and painting sizes. We've selected beautiful hardwood frame moulding in your choice of white (Jane's favorite for these pieces), black, or natural wood, plus a white mat. Simply Framed does an amazing job (check them out for all the other artwork you have hanging around in your home waiting to be framed!) and working with them lets us include all of these professional touches:
  • Hardwood frame moulding in your choice of white, black, or natural wood
  • UV-shielding plexiglass, which protects against 89% of UV and 92% Light transmission
  • Custom Cut 4-ply white mat with bevel edge
  • Archival acid-free backing
  • Protective paperback finish
  • Wall bumpers 
  • Hanging hardware + nails 
  • Hanging and care instructions 
As for the sizing, if you order a framed 8x10" print or painting, it will arrive in a frame that is about 11.75 x 13.75". An 11 x 14" print or painting will be in a 16.75 x 19.75" frame, and a 16 x 20" in a 22.75 x 26.75" frame.
As the mats are custom cut to fit the artwork, and all are framed to order, framing your work adds 2-3 weeks to your delivery time, but it is SO worth it, we promise.

PLEASE NOTE: Because the framing is custom for each piece, framed work cannot be returned.

If instead you'd like to frame yours yourself, the best off-the-shelf frames we’ve found are IKEA’s Ribba frames. They have great rectangular ones in various sizes, and even nice square ones that often fit the paintings or prints with fewer books (7 or so) perfectly.

Unfortunately, the mats that come with the frames usually have too small an opening for the bookshelf images. But you can get a custom white mat cut for you at most art supply and framing stores (like Michael's or Blick); it usually costs $10-15.