A step-by-step guide on creating an inspiring home library

A library will become a worthy addition to any apartment or private house. In this article, you will find valuable recommendations on how to organize a nice room or corner to store your books.

Today, it is a matter of prestige to have a library. It is good to have an intellectual hobby. It is nice to have enough funds to afford a book collection. More and more people decide to organize a library at home even if they consume most texts in digital format. Such a room will produce a favorable impression both on your guests when they come to see you and on your colleagues during a Zoom video conference. In this article, you will find smart tips on how to make a stunning home library.

Select the Spot

If you want a large library, it would be ideal to allocate a separate room for this purpose. It should have doors that you can close to enjoy complete silence. Ideally, there should be plenty of natural light in the room. Yet if it has no windows at all, that would do too because it would create an atmosphere of cinematographic seclusion. If you are planning to use your attic or cellar for this purpose, make sure that there are no mice there and the books would not get too damp.

If you lack a spare room, you can create a library in any part of your house, be it your bedroom, a flight of stairs or a sunny kitchen window seat. The primary requirement is that there should not be too much noise or traffic around. However, some people make splendid libraries right in their dining rooms. They say that they are too busy during the week to spend enough time with the books — but they love the feeling of being surrounded with the literature when enjoying meals.

Support the Floors

Books are heavy, so your floor might sag or give way. Maybe, you will need to strengthen it or relocate the library from the initial place where you planned to place it. Also, you should secure the shelves to the walls so that they would never fall down.

Order the Shelves

You might either buy ready-made shelves or order tailor-made ones. If you have many books, custom-made floor-to-ceiling shelves or built-ins would be ideal. They are very functional — but they might look not as stunning as their ready-made counterparts.

If your collection is too large to fit into the shelves, you can distribute it around the house. Keep on the floor-to-ceiling shelves those books that you would not read too often. As for your favorite ones, the most beautiful ones and the most expensive ones, you might want to store them in the following spots:

• On modern floating shelves or a freestanding bookcase somewhere outside the library
• Under a window seat
• On a shelf above the doorway (you will need a ladder to reach it)

When guests come to see you, they will be impressed by your creativity and your good taste.

The longer the shelf, the thicker it should be. As for the height, it might be adjustable. If the construction of the shelving enables you to modify the height of each shelf, that would be an optimal solution. You will be able to accommodate both tall coffee table books and short paperbacks in your library.

Buy the Seating

Depending on the size of the library and your reading preferences, you might want to purchase a sofa, an armchair or table and a set of chairs. If the room is compact, put an armchair close to the window to use the natural light. To make the place look warm and welcoming, arrange all the furniture items at a slight angle. If there are several armchairs in the room, do not turn them away from each other — but on the contrary, angle them toward each other.

Create a Unique Atmosphere

Your library does not need to be a clone of the archetypal classic book clubs that you would see in movies and in historical pictures. You have a right to choose furniture of any color, put photos on the walls (if there is enough free space), buy fancy lamps and carpets. If the room has a door and you normally keep it closed, the style of your library does not need to coincide with the interior of the house. By contrast, it will transfer you to a magic world that is entirely disconnected from your daily routine — almost like Narnia.

Make a Habit of Cleaning Your Books

The main shortcoming of having a library consists in the fact that it accumulates a lot of dust. When you pull a book off the shelf and start reading it, you might sneeze. In the worst scenario, you might discover pests among your novels and poetry. To prevent this trouble, you should systematically remove the books from the shelves and clean them with a soft microfiber cloth.

Bookshelves Are Not Only for Books

Some people are not too much into oldschool paper books. Or they might lack time for reading. Or they might have no intention of keeping all their books at home and prefer to resell or donate them once they have read them. In this case, they might want to do without a full-fledged library and buy a stylish bookshelf for their living room. Apart from the books, you can keep the following items on it:

• Framed photos
• Plants in pots
• Teacups and teapots
• Statuettes
• Needlework baskets
• Gadgets
• Spice racks
• Many other nice and colorful things

To add character to the room, the contents of your shelving should not be too uniform. Plus, there should be enough space between them.

In shops that sell designer furniture, such as Room Service 360, you can find modern elegant bookshelves that would fit the interior of any style.

Conclusion

It is enjoyable and reassuring to have a library at home. It might start with one shelf with books and grow gradually. Your friends will only be happy to help you to replenish it — and they will not need to spend long hours thinking of what to buy for your birthday.