Decorator’s Trick: Curtains On Bookshelves

Hanging curtains across bookshelves seems to be a move that high-end interior designers make in their own spaces, and perhaps they are on to something. After all, if you’re like me, keeping your bookshelf neat and tidy takes some intention. Why not have the freedom of covering up the mess when it gets out of control?

Advantages to this strategy include a layered look that’s sure to add some warmth to any space. It also gives the option of eliminating visual clutter, a nice choice to make when entertaining or if you simply want a more peaceful environ. It instantly can provide the illusion of a blank wall. And if you’re looking to add some pop, choose bright primary colored fabrics.

All this said, it’s quite obvious that many AT readers take their book display and storage quite seriously. So what do you think? Are curtains covering your bookcase a “do” or a “don’t”?

FIRST ROW
1. Designer Lindsay Bond covers up her shelves in her office, seen in House Beautiful
2. In this spread on a Lincoln Park apartment from Chicago Home and Garden, designer Todd Haley used the curtains over the bookshelves to highlight the vertical element in an otherwise horizontally-decorated space.
3. The see-through bookshelves in Todd Klein’s 700-square-foot West Village apartment serve as a room divider; the curtains covering the shelves add privacy to his bedroom. Elle Decor
4. Barry Dixon put in curtained bookcases to give his client the option of eliminating visual clutter, as noted before on Apartment Therapy via Barry Dixon.
5. Our Home Made Happy

(Images: As credited above.)