New book on using books for home decoration

Books do furnish a room by Leslie Geddes-Brown is the most recent of notable publications that deal with home libraries and decorative use of books. The title seems to imply that the author is defending his position, but there is really nothing to defend here. Books are beautiful, versatile and useful! One particular feature of this book is that it recognizes the value of books in decorating different types of rooms: living rooms, kitchens, bedrooms, hallways and even bathrooms.

Faux books in a home library

Faux Book Box CD / DVD Holder Cabinet

Using faux books is a long-standing tradition in home library decoration. Very often faux book panels are used to cover doors, hidden cabinets and objects that chash in their style with the look of the room (e.g. LCD TVs). There are, believe it or not, manufacturers of faux books. They specialize in creating extremely well-designed panels that feature a variety of different looks.

The beauty of this custom approach to faux books is in the fact that you can fill a "bookcase" with very imaginative titles, often books that don't even exist! The library of the Duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth has a door covered with such faux books. The titles include "Kant on hypocrisy", "Venus observed", "Plays never acted", "Wolf's life of a lamb", "Endless road" by Wanda Farr, and "Knick knacks" by Paddy Whack. There is deep irony in turning actual fake books into virtual fake works that never were and probably never will be written. If you have any sort of creative strain in you, make sure to use this opportunity to show off your imagination. Just keep in mind that hiding a safe with priceless jewels behind such obviously fake books will not be a good idea.

Kids' bookcase extravaganza (actual bookcases shown!)

It is always a good idea to keep the kids' books separate from the rest of your book collection. Besides, it is nice to be able to spread the book around the house, so that they are in the area where they are most needed. You will probably want to keep your cookbooks in the kitchen. Our children deserve nice dedicated book storage units in their rooms.

Kids' bookcases come in a variety of styles, nearly all of them quite boring. Manufacturers seem to be unable to show more creativity other than what requires to come up with a pink or blue box of shelves with pictures of Disney princesses or Superman drawn all over. The bookcases I show here are, believe it or not, actual bookcases from the collection designed by craft artist Thomas Leman. They are not kids' bookcases per se, but they look SO much like they have just stepped out of a 3d cartoon! Something tells me that the quality of these bookcases is very good, so they will probably last as long as you want them to.

Check out more of this furniture style at dustfurniture.com

Home library books - design, plans and decoration

With the help of one of my visitors I have compiled an extended list of books dealing with home library design, decorating with books and some books of general interest for bibliophiles.

• At Home with Books: How Booklovers Live with and Care for Their Libraries
• Candice Olson on Design
• Decorating with Books (House Beautiful)
• Design Ideas for Home Decorating
• Kelly Hoppen Home: From Concept to Reality
• Libraries
• Library Design
• Living with Books
• The Book on the Bookshelf

I would like to especially point your attention to Candida Höfer's Libraries. This book with Umberto Eco's introduction is a true masterpiece and would make a great gift.

For almost 30 years Candida Höfer has photographed interiors, mostly representational spaces accessible to the public, such as staircases, lobbies, reading halls or exhibition spaces. Rather than staging them, she takes their picture in the state she finds them, with great discreetness and a touch of humour.

Libraries are a book producer’s dream. Since nobody photographs libraries as beautifully as Höfer, it seemed only natural for Schirmer/Mosel to dedicate her next publication to the splendid and intimate cathedrals of knowledge across Europe and the US: the Escorial in Spain, the Whitney Museum in New York, Villa Medici in Rome, the Hamburg University library, the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris, the Museo Archeologico in Madrid, and Pierpont Morgan Library in New York, to name just a few. Almost completely devoid of people, as is Candida Höfer’s trademark, these pictures radiate a comforting serenity that is exceptional in contemporary photography.

Home library photos: Set #3

In my humble opinion, ladders in a home library are not just a necessity, but an element of design. They symbolize accessibility and, at the same time, relative obscurity of volumes that may be out of reach. Ladders, in this sense, can almost be considered a cataloging element!

























Bookstands are also essential. Not only they make it easier to work with books. They also protect them, and as you can very well see they form a stunning design element in an environment where most of the lines are at an 90 degree angle. A welcome distraction for the eye!

Most typically, you will see reference books placed on bookstands and lecterns. If you care about the condition of the book, it is a good idea to open different pages every once in a while, whether you are using the book or not. But you should most certainly avoid displaying valuable books in this manner.


You may not see it very well, but the floorlamps were designed specifically to be placed in a home library. The shades have imprints of antique book pages on them!