Incorporating a home library design into your space can be extremely appealing to the eye and add a lot of warmth to any apartment or house. However, it can pose some challenges. For example, what do you do when you live in a small apartment or studio, or have no shelves to put the books on? That’s when you need to get creative because a home library design can involve anything from putting up shelves yourself to buying the correct piece for the space.
Fill the Space
Now, if you are living in a studio or apartment there is one thing each of these has in common, walls. There are always bare walls that need to be filled. A great way to help make a library blend into the room is by matching it to the same color as the walls. For example, take two stand alone bookcases and push them together to fill a bit of unused wall space. Pushing them together makes it look more like one piece of furniture verses two separate bookcases. Once pushed together, feel free to spread out books, artwork, small trinkets from traveling, and other items to make it your own. If you are crafty, go out and buy two cabinet doors and add them to the bottom of the bookcase. This will create the illusion of the bookcase being more of a focus piece and will also allow you to stash some items in it — great for storing items you don’t want people to see.
Going Up
Another creative idea is to go vertical and use the wall space in terms of height. A lot of people forget how much space they have if they were to add shelves or do something nontraditional, like adding shadow boxes. These can go anywhere, take up no room, and require very little installation. If you buy small shadow boxes, they can be installed in minutes with only two screws. It keeps the books organized, gives you more storage space, and doesn’t take up floor space. You can group the storage cubes or put them above a desk. Again, take advantage of their design and use them as a focal piece by painting them a different color or hide them by painting them the same color as the walls.
Finally, you might want to think about installing a floor to ceiling bookshelf. Although it will take up some space, it also provides limitless opportunities for you to show off your items. The bookshelves can be customized with some shelves being larger than others, making it look like it was made for your apartment. You can also take some cute baskets and add them throughout the bookcase. This allows you to still be able to hide stuff and makes your items look less cluttered. Consider adding a painting or some modern art to help it feel like an addition to your space.
For more ideas on home library design try visiting some creative websites like Architecture Art Design or Lus Home. Good luck!
Image Source: Flickr/brewbooks
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