As someone who works from home (and to be perfectly honest, has waaaaay too many books and magazines) I was inspired by this photo of Chicago photographer Sandro's library in his live/work space. While this upstairs living area is a personal, distinctive space, it incorporates some good general design ideas to consider stealing for any room. Jump below for the ingredients that go into this style mix:
A simple shelving system of a series of blond wood shelves with vertical uprights creates a horizontal library that stretches the length of the wall, utilizing the under-window space.
Books are placed in separate horizontal stacks on the shelves rather than the more expected-vertical orientation for more visual impact and a more casual "homey" vibe. Two more similar stacks on the coffee table tie that are to the shelving.
A neutral palette of whites and beiges that vary from very warm to almost cool cover all surfaces, from the floor to the walls to the furniture and tonal patchwork pillows.
Instead of covering the wonderful wall of windows with a treatment, just the bottom panes are frosted for privacy and the rest are left wide open.
The seating geometric and simple. It is generous in size but doesn't overpower the room, due to its low profile. It echoes the horizontal lines of the bookshelves.
A collection of very vertically oriented small statuary, orchid plants and other decor pieces top off the shelving area, adding personality and staggering the strong solid horizontal line created by the books.
Larger sculptures are lined up on a table that is placed behind the sofa, which changes up the scale of the artwork in the room nicely.
The wall hung art is low, keeping the eye at the level of the shelving and furniture which accentuates the ceiling height.
Check the full article (starts on page 38) on Sandro's live/work space by Thomas Connors with photos by Anthony Tahlier in the online edition of CS Interiors.
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I personally like this, but I await all of the shrieking from the bookworms about the verical stacks...
Actually, sometimes really big art books need to be stacked flat because it's difficult to find shelves that will accommodate them when standing up. You see this in libraries all the time. The only issue is making sure you don't make huge stacks that make it difficult to grab books lower down in the pile.
I used to work for a used bookstore. I would travel to the biggest booksales between Wi, IL & IA with the owner to buy for the shop. We always had to pack the books flat. Not really sure why there is such a strong opinion difference between flat & upright on book shelves. IF the place has properly temperature regulation it really does not matter if they are flat or upright.
mostly it's b/c the paper will warp over time if you stand the book up instead of laying it flat.
The frosted windows are a wonderful idea. Love the horizontal stacks and the art pieces. Interesting.
I worked in a bookstore for three years, and we always stored antique and valuable books flat to prevent damage to the spines and covers. There's no reason not to store all books that way if you have the space, and don't mind a little extra effort when you need to reach a book at the bottom of a stack. Just make sure that the books are of similar sizes and are stored out of direct sunlight, because you can get dust/fade marks around the edges of the bottom books otherwise.
PS -- I *love* this room and would gladly live there.
Any idea where that shelving system is from? It would be perfect for the books in our hallway.