

‘By allowing books to amass freely – red books next to yellow, leather-bound aside canvas-covered, paperback neighboring weighty hardbacks – you create a bank of texture that closely mirrors the nostalgic stacks seen on childhood library visits. ‘There’s the color-coded look, there’s the painted-spine idea that gives all of your tomes all the same tone, and there’s the ordered-by-genre and ordered-by-size approach. ‘Needless to say, most bookcases will hold more than a book or two, but the ways of displaying them are plentiful,’ says Meaghan Hunter, in-house stylist at Neptune. Just as with bedroom bookshelf ideas, it's all aesthetics when organizing shelves in a living room. How do you organize shelves in a living room? A stabilizing strap will often be included with an off-the-peg bookcase. Tall bookshelves will also need to be anchored to the wall so that there’s no danger of them toppling over. A design with adjustable shelves is a must, so that shelves can be arranged to suit book height. Measure up and double-check the space available before buying, including height, width and depth, which is key if it’s to fit a particular spot and you don’t want the bookcase to protrude into the room too much. It can be moved to a different spot if the living room layout is re-jigged at a later date or the bookcase can be taken with you should a future house move occur. If built-in storage isn’t an option, a freestanding living room bookcase offers a flexible solution.
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I love using mine to display my favorite ornaments too it really adds character to a space.’ 9. Combining tall and narrow versions can turn a dark corner into a cozy reading nook. I wanted them to be really simple and timeless, so they would suit both modern and traditional homes. ‘I designed our Ashmolean range after struggling to find the perfect bookshelves for my own home library. ‘While living room bookshelves provide excellent storage, they can also transform the look and feel of a room,’ says Sue Jones, Co-Founder and Creative Director of OKA. And far from choice being limited, many different designs are available from wood finishes and colors to pre-primed options ready for painting, to give a more individual semi-bespoke effect. Modular bookshelves come in a variety of sizes, with different widths, depths and heights, making it possible to create a more tailored arrangement that will suit the shape and size of living room space available. Make a bookcase the focal pointĪs an alternative to bespoke built-in living room bookshelves, modular storage offers a less-pricey option that is far more flexible than standard freestanding bookcases.

It’s a good idea to organize books according to size or even color, to make the feature appear more striking.’ 5. ‘A big advantage of getting a bespoke living room bookcase installed is that the size of the shelves can suit the collection on display. ‘Books can look great in a living room, they add interest and color, convey personality and take dominance away from the television,’ says Simon Tcherniak, Senior Designer at Neville Johnson. Painting walls, woodwork and architrave in a co-ordinating color throughout creates a cohesive look so that walls and furniture blend in, whether it’s a bold, standout shade like this, or a more muted, understated hue.
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Framing a bay window with built-in living room bookcases utilizes sections of wall space that might otherwise be wasted and will give slimline storage for a few extra tomes. A bay window space with comfy seating makes the prime location for reading nook ideas, so it’s worth factoring in extra book storage if there’s space available.
