Home Libraries

"Wear the old coat and buy the new book"

-AUSTEN PHELPS

When I was growing up my father got transferred to a lot of different places, but no matter which army station we went to, however remote, two things were always there - a swimming pool and a library. No wonder my favourite pastimes were swimming and reading. We were allowed to borrow four books at a time from the library and I would always issue my full quota. My earliest memory is that of inhaling the musty smelling paper, sitting between those tall, never-ending shelves and eagerly flipping the pages to discover whole new worlds.
It has been 15 years since I stepped into a library but my love for books hasn't changed. The only difference is that now I buy, because I don't like giving up a book even though I've read it.

A lot of my friends share my passion and I know that if there is one thing that a book lover loves as much as reading the book itself, it's to display those books. It's their pride and joy. And you have to agree that there is something about rows of colourful books stacked together that creates an immediate atmosphere of warmth and comfort.

Here are a couple of my favourite images. You'll know exactly what I mean, no words needed. 

Bookshelves of Halldor Laxness

from coco+kelly

creative designs

from chotda

from Jasmine

Lloyd's of Kew Booksellers

from dearsomeone

from oh food

from Jeezny

This last one is a most extraordinary design. It's from a London apartment where the owners have ingeniously built in the bookshelf into a staircase that leads up to their loft. Image on the left is from the bottom, looking up. And the one on the right is from the loft, looking down.

Hope I have inspired you to look for new and unusual spaces in your home where you can build your own libraries. It does not need to be enormous or pristine or co-ordinated. In fact the messier it is, the more fun it is! Happy reading.

*I have done my best to link the images to the right sources, but a special mention goes to RobAroundBooks from where I got a lot of my leads. Staircase bookshelf images from Apartment Therapy.