What, When, Where: One for the Books

By Erin Marvin

I like books. Not only because I’m a voracious reader (I spend my lunch hour reading while eating–no easy feat–and I always have a pile of books on my nightstand, stacked in order of what I plan to read next), but also because I think they add real character to a house that you can’t get with a colorful toss pillow or carefully placed vase.

I talked about my reluctance to “collect†in a previous post, but I’ve certainly amassed a healthy collection of books over the years, which leaves me wondering about the best way to incorporate them into the rest of my decor.

I didn’t have to look far; in our winter edition of New England Home’s Connecticut we showed designer Kristin Gallipoli’s own home, where she stacked her tomes in six-foot-tall Sapien bookshelves on either side of a fireplace. I think the stacks’ unevenness lends the chic room a devil-may-care attitude:

Photo by John Gruen; click to see more

In this modern bedroom designed by Susan Forristal, maze-like bookcases on the wall double as a work of art:

Photo by William Waldron, courtesy of elledecor.com

Here, in a Miles Redd living room, built-in bookshelves are painted the same bold blue as the wall, a nice way to make the books themselves a focal point:

Photo by Simon Upton, courtesy of elledecor.com

And I love how this wall of books follows the gambrel roofline:

Photo courtesy of bhg.com

Apartment Therapy also has a great round-up of super-cool bookshelves (I could easily move myself and my collection into any of these spaces):

Photo courtesy of apartmenttherapy.com; click to see more

What do you think? Have you seen or devised any great ways of displaying your favorite reads? I’d love to hear from you. And in the meantime, I’ll leave you with a little Bookshelf Porn.