Calling all readers: if your collection is overflowing, it might be time to upgrade your book storage and carve out a dedicated home library. No matter how extensive or selective your collection may be, adding a true space for books will make reading easily accessible and add a stunning focal point to your home.
A home library can turn any unused nook into a standout design element or any bare wall into a talking point. From color coded shelves to under-the-stairs storage, the opportunities are endless.
Read on for 20 home libraries that will inspire you to finally create the reading space of your dreams.
Stock The Shelves
A standout way to show off your books with pride? Dedicate an entire wall to them. This library comes fully stocked with wall-to-wall shelves filled with books. With one whole wall dedicated to reading, this sitting room instantly transforms into a true library.
Spines Take a Backseat
If your home leans more minimalist and naturalistic, consider this classic interior design trick: flip around your books so the pages face front to lend cohesion and a neutral style to your shelves.
Coordinated Stacks
This stunning shelving unit spans the length of the wall and takes a different approach to book displays. The books are organized by color and stacked vertically, leaving neighboring stacks room to breathe. This creates visual interest and organizes the books to perfection.
Serene Shelf
This neutral bedroom comes with a cozy library designed for late-night bedside reading. The stacks sit at an ideal height and utilize the aforementioned spine-flipping trick to uphold the room's neutral color scheme.
Tonal Neutrals
This extensive library effortlessly blends the colorful spines of the books with neutral décor pairings, like the brown leather sofa and clear acrylic table. The dedicated library room feels cozy, warm, and inviting while still looking polished and styled.
Before retiring your books to their shelves, organize them with a system you can stick to: by author, genre, or even feature favorites.
Sophisticated Shelves
This moody sitting room features large built-ins that will hold all your vintage books with ease. To balance the darker wooden shelves and brighten the space, this room features a light grey sofa and rug.
Simple Book Nook
We’re taking a note from this sleek design to incorporate book storage in a small space. Custom cabinetry surrounds a small cutout, which not only has cubbies to fit all your stories, but a bench to rest and read them. The nook blends sophisticated design style with the coziness of a secret reading spot.
Staircase Storage
Where better to store your Harry Potter books than under your staircase? (Potterheads, you understand). This sleek design utilizes every inch of the staircase by incorporating built-ins with tons of shelving. Display not only books, but art pieces, candles, and other comforting trinkets to make your lounge room complete.
Colorful Open Shelving
This shelf space elevates your typical bookshelf: it features custom pottery pieces and woven baskets alongside the classic titles. The final look is effortlessly styled and keeps the books as a focal point.
DIY Library
Every nook and cranny in your space has home-library potential, and this custom bookshelf and bench prove it. With a little elbow grease, you can utilize any empty area to hold your books and other memorable trinkets.
Cozy Reading Room
This reading room screams hygge: the angular room was transformed into the perfect space to sit back, relax, and choose from one of the many books squeezed into the shelves. A plush rug and rocking lounge chairs complete the look, and makes for a space that truly embodies what a home library should feel like.
Styled to Perfection
Need to spice up your home office? Look no further than these built-ins, complete with books, decorative busts, and house plants. Personal touches like these will make you more inclined to enjoy your time in the office.
Green Dream
Live life on the edge, and let your books hang off the edge, too. These shelves inject life into this simple desk area, and the sage green walls add an earthy element that balances the packed shelving.
Minimal and Chic
This space feels cohesive and sophisticated, with the tiny library mirroring the room’s minimalistic design. Even a small wall insert can hold lots of personality—and keep your favorite books right beside your favorite couch spot.
If your living area would feel interrupted with the addition of colorful books, choose those with black and white covers to feature on open shelving.
Mosaic Masterpiece
With the addition of stunning mosaic artwork, this library truly comes to life. The books here frame the main attraction, while the chic light fixture and sculptural rolling chairs add finishing touches to the design.
Bold and Expansive
Go big, and go home. This library setup has us feeling like we’re perusing the shelves at a vintage bookstore, with packed and varied shelving complete with a sunny window and curved couch.
Classically Elegant
This executive office space is immediately warmed with the addition of books to its shelves. The blend of antique-looking tomes with contemporary novels keeps the space elegant and elevated, perfect for a place to work and focus.
Colored Happy
We don’t know what’s cuter: the colorful bookshelf ladder or the dog lounging on the chaise. This colorful library feels fun, eclectic, and bursting with personality. Packing the shelves with books gives the room a sense of warmth and furthers its collected feel.
Slimmed Down
There’s so much to love about this small home library: the way the books fit perfectly within the shelves, the inviting teal door, and the spotlight above to turn on when searching for a late-night read. Just because a nook is slim does not mean it can't be used as a functional and organized storage space.
Out of This World
Whimsical floating shelves are responsible for this incredible library look. There is so much visual interest here that the books actually play a small role in completing the picture. Student desks and globes accompany the stories hanging on the walls, and a hot pink sideboard—probably filled with more books—anchors the space.