Turn over a new leaf
The average home has 158 books — so give them the space they deserve
fROM battered airport paperbacks to copies of the classics you had to read at school, it’s easy to accumulate stacks of books, despite an ongoing struggle to store them.
Factor in tsundoku, the Japanese word that describes the trend for buying books but never reading them, and it’s no surprise the average UK home has at least 158 books.
Part of the reason for our sprawling collections is that it can feel sacrilegious to throw books out. Even if (as in my case) that set of Children’s Encyclopaedia Britannica has long been outpaced by the internet, some books exert a sentimental pull on our lives.
Yet, in a few simple moves, it’s possible to transform a rambling, space-cluttering collection into a relaxing reading space or home library area.
YOU DON’T NEED A STATELY HOME
HOME libraries aren’t the sole preserve of those with room to spare. It’s possible to create a reading space in a spare room, under the stairs or in a nook or corner occupied by nomadic clutter or a wilting house plant. Another option is an ‘over the door’ bookcase, which optimises the dead space around a doorway, suggests Samantha Graham of DIY Alcove Cabinets. ‘Not only is it functional for books and trinkets, but it looks fantastic, provides a focal point, and is a great room divider, framing the lounge,’ she says. If you go for the corner nook option, introduce a boucle chair and a statement lamp to give it that singular, reading room feel.
START WITH A BOOK AUDIT
AN ESSENTIAL part of creating a home library is knowing how many books you actually have, how many bookshelves you might need, the quality of light and whether you just want a place to stylishly store the books — say with climbing plants and curated ornaments.
Arranging your books into a library is also an opportunity to work out what to gift to a charity shop — do you really need that dog-eared Jilly Cooper novel with the cracked spine? — and what you can’t bear to part with.
PUT YOUR BEST BOOKS FORWARD
SINCE a home library needs to be an inviting space, choose your best and most beautiful books to display in key areas of your home, such as the living room, says Simon tcherniak, senior designer at Neville Johnson. ‘ there are also several ways you can arrange your books on the shelves. one interior designer trick is to turn attractive books sideways on the shelves so that they face out like pictures.
‘Another way is to organise your books according to colour, which can look striking if you have an extensive collection to choose your colours from,’ he adds.
‘You can also, of course, group books according to size, and it is usually possible to order similarsized books by subject or author if you want to make your books easier to find.’
Creating a library is an opportunity to layer a bold wallpaper or feature wall colour behind bookshelving to accentuate your reading space, says Nicolene mausenbaum of Dezyna Interiors.
‘though if you are a minimalist, you can still incorporate a feature wall by choosing a paint colour in your favourite hue that is a shade or two darker or brighter than the surrounding walls,’ she adds.
DON’T GET LEFT ON THE SHELF
BOOKSHELVES are so much more than functional places to store and display your library: they can also create ‘zoning options’ for open plan living, creating a stylish and practical room divider, says Kris manalo, design lead at Atkin and thyme.
‘Having a more portable option also means we can ring the changes in room layouts to suit seasons and need. Keeping a bookcase or storage unit more open is a great way to diffuse light into an area and it can be used for accessories and ornaments as well as books.’
‘though it’s important to select your bookshelves according to the way you live,’ adds interior designer Nicolene mausenbaum.
‘Floor-standing shelving is more suited to those who are renting or may need to be flexible.’
If your property and your books are a permanent fixture, wallmounted shelving is a great spacesaver, because it serves to optimise your vertical space.
And if you’re on a budget, repurpose or upcycle vintage items such as kitchen cabinets — which will also bring a dash of character to your reading space
of course, if you’re lucky enough to have an entire wall or room to dedicate to your library, opt for a built-in bookshelf made to your custom requirements and style.
In fact bookshelves themselves can be works of art — for example the ouseburn bookshelf from Funky Chunky Furniture ( funkychunkyouseburn-bookshelf) is a handcrafted design with unusual angles offering plenty of storage space.
And don’t despair if you cannot create a reading space — cheat with ‘library wallpaper’. Etsy has a good selection ( etsy com/uk/ market/ bookshelf_ wallpaper ).