How to Decorate a Bookshelf: 25 Stylish Design Tips For Your Bookcases
Though we live in a digital age, there’s no replacing the power of books—especially in design. Not only do they tell the story of the homeowner, adding personality to a space, but they also make a bold decor statement. You don't need a designated library or office space to use books as a design element. A wall lined with books transforms any room into a stunning and studious retreat. Whether it's simple rows of shelves or beautiful built-ins, bookcases offer stylish storage for books, artwork, and other treasured collections. “A . . . book lasts as long as a house, for hundreds of years,” Thomas Jefferson once wrote. “It is not, then, an article of mere consumption, but fairly of capital.” Read on for expert tips on how to decorate a bookcase.
1/25Go Local for Great Books
“Some of my favorite places to sleuth for books for clients are Bookmarc in New York and Los Angeles and Book Soup in L.A.,” says John De Bastiani of John De Bastiani Inc., an interior design firm with offices in both cities. Head to your own neighborhood shop where there’s an inventory you like. “There’s something special about local bookstores, and used bookstores in particular,” says Aya Satoh, the manager for Personal Collections and Books by the Foot at the Strand Book Store in Manhattan. “There’s so much history there, and the craft and artistry that went into producing antique books gives them a beauty that most contemporary books don’t have.” In the downstairs living room of Julianne Moore's Manhattan home, Edelman leather covers the Harvey Probber sofa and vintage ottoman and the bookcase contains an eclectic mix of objects and books.
Photo: Thomas Loof2/25Think About Your Interests
Satoh has curated more than a thousand book collections over the last two years, and she always starts the process with a conversation about book content and overall subject themes. For example, Satoh recently created a collection of Jazz Age books for a Prohibition era–themed space at a New York hotel. In the New York home of art dealer Amy Gold and auction broker Brett Gorvy, D’Apostrophe Design employed a wall of shelving to house the power couple’s expansive collection of monographs.
Photo: Eric Piasecki3/25Go Bold With Color
Designer Bruce Bierman installed lacquered bookshelves in an all-red library, inside a Manhattan athletic club turned apartment.
Photo: Thomas Loof4/25Make an Architectural Statement
In a polychromatic Houston mansion, designer Miles Redd created elaborate bookcases inside Moorish arches covered with a wallpaper by Iksel Decorative Arts.
Photo: Douglas Friedman5/25Go Faux
If you prefer your Kindle to a hardcover, why not fake a collection? In an art-filled London townhouse decorated by François Catroux, what appears to be bookshelves is actually a wall-size painting by Khalil Rabah.
Photo: William Waldron6/25Incorporate Art
In designer Richard Mishaan’s family home in New York, bookshelves are filled with art by Deborah Kass, Buffie Johnson, Alex Katz, Andy Warhol, and Sol LeWitt.
Photo: Björn Wallander7/25Mix It Up
“I often mix books with my client’s other pieces, such as blue-and-white Chinese porcelain or antique tea caddies,” says De Bastiani. Interspersing books with something as simple as travel photos is a great way to subtly tell the world about you, he says. To ensure your collection still looks organized and cohesive, Satoh recommends grouping the books by color, subject, or size, then pulling the spines to the edge of shelf. Slate bookshelves line the office area in designer Muriel Brandolini’s Hamptons retreat.
Photo: Pieter Estersohn8/25Make the Books the Focal Point
When displayed the right way, books have the ability to convey the personality of the owner. “To highlight your collection, paint the bookshelf a contrasting color, such as duck egg blue or bright coral,” says De Bastiani. “And if you want, shine a light on the books in the literal sense. Install LED spotlights and direct them at the shelves.” In a Brooklyn brownstone decorated by Nick Olsen, peacock-blue shelving is paired with brass picture lights.
Photo: Ricardo Labougle9/25Add Some Sparkle and Shine
In Linda Pinto’s Paris flat, the library/dining room features glamorous mirror-backed shelving.
Photo: Roger Davies10/25Make Them Accessible
Special vintage copies, or even your favorite novel, should be displayed facing out on your bookshelves for extra attention, says Satoh. At your next party, showcase a tome or two on your cocktail table. “Books can be a great conversation piece,” says De Bastiani. Other easy-to-reach spots: the fireplace mantel or a large window sill, where the books will be framed by the drapery and sunlight. Bookshelves flank a stone fireplace in the library of decorator Isabel López-Quesada’s Madrid home.
Photo: Pascal Chevallier11/25Choose a Luxe Material
Mahogany bookcases are paired with tiger-striped textiles in the luxe library of Sylvain Lévy-Alban and Charlie Garnett’s Paris apartment.
Photo: Scott Frances12/25Take Advantage of High Ceilings
Monumental bookshelves delineate the living and dining areas in the New York home of architect Steven Harris and interior designer Lucien Rees Roberts.
Photo: Joshua McHugh13/25Use Bookcases as Room Dividers
In the Manhattan penthouse of antiques dealer Angus Wilkie and architectural designer Len Morgan, built-in bookcases create a doorway into the kitchen.
Photo: Roger Davies14/25Think Beyond the Office
Waldo Fernandez, interior decorator to the stars, channels Hollywood glamour in the master bedroom of his Los Angeles home with stately Macassar bookshelves.
Photo: William Waldron15/25Use Bookcases as Camouflage
Interior designer Jamie Drake added a floor-to-ceiling cabinet with storage and bookshelves to conceal a structural column in his New York apartment.
Photo: Björn Wallander16/25Go Off the Wall
In fashion designer Stefano Pilati’s Paris apartment, furniture designer Martino Gamper created the openwork shelving between the master bedroom and the smoking room.
Photo: Joshua McHugh17/25Take Over the Whole Wall
A wall of walnut bookshelves adds serious storage to a Greenwich Village apartment designed by Robert Couturier.
Photo: Nikolas Koenig18/25Make Built-ins Blend In
Commune employed built-in shelves painted arsenic green to contain books and objects in a 1930s Los Angeles house.
Photo: Tim Street-Porter19/25Line a Hallway with Books
Los Angeles design mavens Robert Willson and David Serrano installed iron bookcases in their 19th-century home in Mérida, Mexico.
Photo: Oberto Gili20/25Make Your Library Multipurpose
Leather-bound volumes line the walls in the library-bedroom of Ned Lambton’s 17th-century Tuscan villa.
21/25Mix Vertical and Horizontal Stacks of Books
In the library of Fiona Kotur's Hong Kong home, brass picture lights by Ralph Lauren Home top the bookshelves, which is styled with stacks of books, as well as art and objects .
Photo: Richard Powers22/25Incorporate Sets of Books
A Jeffrey Bilhuber–designed sofa and lounge chair, a stone-top cocktail table by Lucca & Co., and antique wood panels from Todd Alexander Romano set an inviting scene in the library of a Seattle home renovated by Bilhuber. The bookshelves display sets of vintage books.
Photo: Scott Frances23/25Shine a Light
Picture lights by Alexa Hampton from Circa Lighting crown bookcases in the dining room of Hampton's New York apartment; the side chairs are upholstered in a Lisa Fine Textiles print, the armchair is in a de Le Cuona paisley, and the French sideboard is from Lee Calicchio.
24/25Share the Spotlight with the TV
You don't have to choose between Netflix and Shakespeare. In the living area of Liev Schreiber's NoHo triplex, a bookcase by Ashe + Leandro surrounds the TV.
25/25Create a Book-Framed Nook
Neal Beckstedt Studio designed the interiors of designer Derek Lam's Manhattan home, furnishing the library with a Roman Thomas sofa, a Christian Liaigre club chair, and a vintage André Arbus cocktail table and Poul Kjærholm stool; the large artwork is by Chuck Close, and the black-framed piece above the sofa is by Kara Walker.
