15 Stunning ways to incorporate your book collections into your home decor

March 30, 2016 Jessica Gordon Ryan

It's a wonderful problem for a book lover to have - finding a place to store all one's literature in a manner that is both efficient and beautiful. In this piece I share some ideas for homes large and small that are both functional and stunning.

Stunning ways to incorporate your book collections into your home decor. Image via My Domaine.

One can never have too many books. Ever. In fact, a home without books is like a home without art. It lacks warmth and dimension and intellectuality. Books serve a multitude of functions, and when displayed in bookshelves, on coffee tables, even in carefully curated piles they completely transform a space. Like art acquired for collections or from travels, books are another form of creative expression in home decor. Some homes are large enough to house separate office spaces and libraries, many are not. Smaller homes can find multiple uses for rooms, a dining room can be transformed to a working library. Who wouldn't love to dine amongst a hundred books? What a conversation starter that would be! Guest rooms can double up as home offices with book-lined walls. Attic spaces and dry basements can be completely transformed to become unique libraries in their own rights. Add some shelves to a window nook. Remove the doors from a large closet and line it with shelves. Create book nooks in corners, in lofts, in kitchens, bathrooms, and hallways. Some homes have large built-in bookshelves. Others do not. In the past I have created walls of books using inexpensive book cases from Ikea, they can be painted or remained untouched. I love the look of books piled on tables - coffee, end, and dining... Do remember to dust them frequently! When it comes to displaying the books, the possibilities are endless as long as we can step out of the proverbial book box!

Stunning ways to incorporate your book collections into your home decor. Image Bunny Williams.

Art and books always make a perfect pairing and give a living room a personal, homey feel.

Stunning ways to incorporate your book collections into your home decor. Image Tumblr.

Books displayed on a long table and on a wall add another element of texture to this industrial loft.

Stunning ways to incorporate your book collections into your home decor. Image via Harpers Bazar

A hallway gets a magical transformation with bright paint, decorative carpeting and a wall of books in brightly lacquered shelves.

Stunning ways to incorporate your book collections into your home decor. Image Domaine Home.

A small book nook is created in a wall, surrounded by artwork to create a stunning and simply home office.

Books carefully displayed horizontally and vertically, interspersed with art in a wall of black shelving creates a casual sophistication.

Stunning ways to incorporate your book collections into your home decor. Image Apartment Therapy

A spare room is transformed into an office and library. Again art and books marry in an elegant black wall of books.

Stunning ways to incorporate your book collections into your home decor. Image House Beautful

The popularity of black bookshelves is not lost on me and perfectly shows how versatile this look can be.

Don't be afraid to let your books become a room's focal point. Here the eyes are drawn to the colorful shelves and the portrait that takes center stage.

Stunning ways to incorporate your book collections into your home decor. Image Ikea

Inexpensive bookcases are pushed together to create a look that looks much more elegant than the simple white structures actually are.

Stunning ways to incorporate your book collections into your home decor. Via Casa De Libro

Line the walls of hallways, lofts and landing places to maximize the use of space in the home.

The above photo shows just how piles of books can be visually stunning.

Stunning ways to incorporate your book collections into your home decor. Image HGTV

If you don't have enough books to fill a wall, create a special corner dedicated entirely to them. Shelves look better completely filled than half vacant if they can't be filled in with pieces of art and other objects.

Stunning ways to incorporate your book collections into your home decor. Image via Today Home

Multipurpose: a library, a dining room, a home office. Beneath the shelves of books cabinets can contain all sorts of office apparatus. Talk about maximizing space!

Stunning ways to incorporate your book collections into your home decor. Image Bravo TV

An all season porch becomes a dining room lined with books. Can you think of anything better?

Stunning ways to incorporate your book collections into your home decor. Image Domino

A home office becomes a guest room filled with books and a cleverly placed Murphy Bed!

I hope this piece has left you with some inspiration as to how you can decorate with books!

At Home in the American Barn

March 9, 2016 Jessica Gordon Ryan

As we make great strides to slow down and return to basics, to bygone days and simpler times, many are embracing the American Barn as more than just a symbolic, but embracing it as the modern home. At Home in the American Barn is a beautiful tribute to the wonderful architecture of our past reconditioned to become the sought after residential spaces of today.

Those of you who know me and or follow me on social media know that I am completely enamored by all the barns that dot our landscape, #ihavethisthingwithbarns. I've been known to pull over to snap a photo without warning - simply because I'm enraptured by these structures - both new and old.

Built specifically for utilitarian purposes, the barn was the most important structure on any farm, with more thought and care given to these buildings than the smaller homes of the farmer and his family. Functionality was essential - these dwellings were needed to house livestock and feed. The oldest barns were put together utilizing old world techniques, without metal fasteners. Eventually building techniques changed to incorporate both old and new world methods as well the various styles brought forth by the newly varied ethnic backgrounds.

At Home in the American Barn showcases the architecture of the Dutch, German and English barn, noting their similarities and differences and how the natural American landscape came into play to accommodate the variety of sizes and styles of these barns.

Due to the way in which these dwellings were initially constructed they're easily adaptable to modern living, though do have fundamental issues which need addressing beforehand. German barns had walls that were paper thin so that new walls and insulation are necessary and must provide space for modern wiring, plumbing and other necessary infrastructure. Most barns had few to no windows, but because many of the original walls were non load-baring the opportunity to add windows and doors is fairly uncomplicated. Due to the vast open spaces within, certain efforts are needed to create discreet methods of hiding the unsightly hardware that houses the necessary heating and cooling units. Once the technical aspects of these barns have been figured out, when it comes to decorating these residences anything goes. These infrastructures accommodate a wide variety of aesthetics and collections and are able to adapt to changing needs.

At Home in the American Barn, written by James B. Garrison, beautifully showcases the original buildings that first dotted our country's rich landscape and their exemplary transformations, from old world to Bauhaus. The modern residential barn perfectly marries yesterday's history with today's modern lifestyle. Filled with nearly 200 pages of gorgeous photography, the stories, the architecture and the interiors are truly inspirational. This book is a must for those who love barns, architecture, interiors and history. Published by Rizzoli New York, At Home in the American Barn will be available in April 2016.

Photography by Geoffrey Gross and Brandt Bolding, At Home in The American Barn,  Rizzoli New York, 2016. — Photography by Geoffrey Gross and Brandt Bolding, *At Home in The American Barn*, Rizzoli New York, 2016.

At Home in The American Barn by James B. Garrison, Rizzoli New York, 2016.
Photography by Geoffrey Gross and Brandt Bolding
US $50
Rizzoli New York
Publication date: April 2016
www.rizzoliusa.com

Book Review :: Gracious Rooms by Barbara Westbrook

March 2, 2015 Jessica Gordon Ryan

Barbara Westbrook, Gracious Rooms. Published by Rizzoli, New York 2015

Described as the South's most inviting designer, Barbara Westbrook shares her principles for creating beautiful homes that are warm and inviting in her first book, Gracious Rooms. This beautiful book is filled with rich, inspirational images and advice. Westbrook has been designing classically inspired homes with Southern charm and European elegance for over twenty years. Whether it's a fetching country cottage or a sumptuous penthouse apartment, Westerbrook offers advice with polish and patina. Her philosophy is quite simple. "Make it interesting. Make it beautiful. Make it personal. Make it welcoming and warm."

Westbrook walks her readers through 10 stunning homes. You'll visit light-filled lake retreats, contemporary houses, and historic mansions. Throughout these homes she shares her straightforward, usable ideas. Westerbrook imparts her views on symmetry, the use of natural elements in design a room, and color as a means of unifying spaces within a home and creating a mood with materials. Through combining these elements of design and decoration, she turns houses into homes. Her thoughts are. "Make it interesting. Make it beautiful. Make it personal."

This is a book that is poised to grace every elegant coffee table, book shelf or library no matter the reader's prefered style.

“Every house has a message to deliver”

“Encountering a house for the first time is just like making a new acquaintance.”

“Every space should have a one of a kind object of treatment that makes it distinct.”

“At a time when anyone can obtain anything online, interiors can easily end up looking generic rather than individualized.”

“Curtains can be taken for granted. Of course we need them; they protect us from the sun, the cold and prying eyes. But in addition to function they are the ultimate accessory.”

“Even a formally arranged room can be given a friendlier character. Absent guests who bring it to life. A dining room can be the loneliest place in the house, especially if it adopts a stiff bearing. ”

“Good architecture generates good decorating. When I am lucky enough to work with great spaces - room that are well lit and beautifully proportioned, that flow smoothly from one to the other - my mission is to make decorating decisions that will only lift them higher. ”

“What do you see when you enter a house, a room, a hallway? What sets the welcoming tone?”

“Collections are wonderful, tangible expressions of people’s passions. They add tremendous personality to an interior. ”

“Adapting antiques is an easy way to bring something old into our time. ”

BARBARA WESTBROOK: GRACIOUS ROOMS By Barbara Westbrook with Heather Mac Issac Published by Rizzoli New York ISBN: 978-0-8478-4505-7
PRICE: $50.00 US
Hardcover / 240 pages / 9 x 12 / 150 color illustrations
Copies wherever books are sold

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