Creating the Perfect At Home Library
Your home library
Libraries tend to make up a special room in your home. Whether it’s an office or a place that houses all of your favorite novels. They come from a simple collection that builds over time and each library comes with their own feel. Usually warm and comforting, libraries bring in a sense of calm to what could otherwise be a hectic home.
Invest in timeless classics
Old books tell our visitors that we have time to read the classics and have the time to collect them. Much to the stories in them the look of books can say something as well.
If you happen to actually have lots of books, we are in great shape. If not, some people have books in their libraries that are actually wood boxes which look like old books. Another option is hitting a used book store, flea market or auction. It’s not difficult to find beautiful old leather-bound books that will look great lined up like knowledge-soldiers on your library shelves.
Accent lighting
Lighting in your reading (and gathering) space is essential. Back lighting bookshelves will draw attention to the beauty of your books. Simple LED light strips added above the books is an easy and effective way to showcase the bookcase. Strategic lighting is a small detail that brings big aesthetic reward.
Away you go
Well read and well traveled tend to go hand in hand. Your library can reflect this as well. This is where you can insert some of your personality into your library. If you are a big traveler, take out those travel mementos that you collected on your journeys. Take any maps you may have to a local framer and frame them in wood tones to compliment your library shelving. If you have pottery or fragile items from your travels, scattering them among and on your books is a nice way to add balance and have reminders of great trips you’ve taken. Photos of you on a mountain top, in a dessert, or on your way to a destination is also a great reminder of how far you’ve come.
Map it out
Purchasing a map of the area, the country, or the continent and marking places you’ve been and also places you want to go, makes a great conversation piece to your library walls. A world globe is always a fit to this type of home library. A free-standing globe placed in the library corner, or a smaller one placed on a shelf is a nice addition to your travel story.
Dream on
Not many people can travel as much as they would like. Think of the places you’ve always wanted to go and make your library into a vision board of sorts. Want to go to Africa? Search around for African masks and other relative décor. Animal print rugs and wall-art are popular and easy to find. Find the mood of the places you dream of going, imagine what you hope to see, and furnish your library accordingly. Books are filled with adventures and your library can reflect your adventurous spirit as well.
Organized chaos
Already having a large collection of books is going to take some up-front organizing. If you have work manuals and other technical guides, place them together. How-to and self-help books also make sense in the same space. Taking each genre and keeping them together creates cohesion and allows you to locate a particular book should need it. If you are a more random reader, good old-fashioned alphabetical order is the best way to go.
I am who I am
If you don’t have any of those old leather-bound books to display, this is the time to give your favorite read some front-and-center time. Books bring joy to readers and seeing a particular book is a great reminder of whatever feeling that book brought to you. Purchase and inexpensive plate stand and prop up that favorite book to bring a little happy to your day.
Seashells, or a jar of sea glass collected on a special vacation placed on a shelf next to favorite books are another way to take you to places you’ve been or places you hope to go. Photos of your favorite family trips, like the ones of the baby covered in sand on the beach, are a nice addition to personalize this special space in your home.
Your style
Shelving in your library can be traditional or even quirky if that’s more your style. Shelving created from old fruit crates or other interesting repurposed materials can add lots of visual interest. If you have floor-to-ceiling shelving, an antique apple picking ladder, or a vintage-looking stool is a cool and practical way to navigate your home library.
The right light
Lighting is important in your personal reading space. It can be both welcoming and useful. Overhead lighting may already be a given in the space you choose for your home library. If this is the case, don’t discount other sources of light, like desk lamps and floor lamps. Floor lamps are extremely versatile and don’t require any additional furniture to use them. If your library is light and bright, choose a lamp with a natural fabric shade, or even a woven or rattan shade. A brass, traditional-looking lamp with a green banker’s lamp shade is a nice sidekick to an overstuffed leather chair.
Take it easy-chair
Big readers need great seating in their home libraries. A big comfy chair that allows you to shift around for hours of comfort is the goal. Make sure this chair is both something you like to sit in and something you like to look at. Your reading space should call to you on your way out the door and beg you for a little visit. Being away from home and looking forward to grabbing that book, snuggling in that chair and escaping to wherever that books takes you, is a solid sign that your home library is a homey library.
Color me happy
Your library should be a reflection of what makes you happy and relaxed. Just as the books in it should. Use paint shades that do this for you too. Light and airy tones in shades of sand and sky for instance, can take you away to the beach you are both dreaming, and reading about. Warm gem-tones can make you want to snuggle in with a book and fuzzy throw for hours of escapism.
The family who reads together, cleans together
Once the room is set, the mood is set and the shelving is set, how do you keep it all clean? You’re going to have to do it at least once in a while. With large book collections, and sometimes even the small ones, having your books attract bugs may be a concern. Best case, your books are going to be dust magnets. Cleaning books regularly will minimize pests and sneezes.
The best way to clean your library is to first remove all of the books from the shelves, grab some polish and clean all of the shelving surfaces with a soft cloth. When you put the books back in place, make sure to wipe them each with a microfiber cloth (vacuum them if possible) and place them vertically on shelving. Putting book spines facing outward will add additional support to the book.
It really is all about you
Creating your home library should be an enjoyable, personal endeavor for you and your family. Choosing your particular style and need can take as much or as little time as you’d like. The best way to create the perfect library is doing things by the book; your book.
No matter the style or size of your library, Matter Brothers Furniture has what you need. Whether you are an avid reader or just find comfort in being surrounded by books. Visit one of our 5 convenient locations or check out our site for all of your options!
