A home library is a must-have for booklovers

Having a home library is a great idea. Spacious houses have an entire room assigned to it whereas the rest make do with the concept in part of a room. A home library, like any other library, needs a lot of shelves that are easily accessible. This is the most fundamental of all requirements. The rest follows like place for the shelves, comfortable seating, the art of displaying books and the most important of these - finding enough books for the library. Listed below are the components that configure into your very own home library:

Location

If you can afford to have one separate room for the library, the creative possibilities are immense. Even the smallest room in the house can be easily converted into a comfortable library. All it needs is innovative shelf arrangement. A home library can be a part of the study, bedroom or as an offshoot of the living room. It is comfortable sharing space with any of these rooms. Just assign a wall for the shelves, some floor cushions or armchairs and presto, the library has arrived.

Shelves

Decide on the kind of shelves that you prefer. They maybe freestanding, customized, built-in or even recessed. Shelves that are recessed in the wall are extremely convenient. This kind of shelving makes the maximum use of the space and has no trouble with corners. Built-in wooden shelves are generally customized.

They are ideal to fit in any corner. A wall-to-wall book shelf is the grandest with extra space, if any, being used for other purposes like storing CDs, games and displaying some artifacts and pictures. Having this kind of shelving in rich wood makes the library a perfect hangout for booklovers. In case the collection of books is huge, the height of the bookcase can extend till the room's ceiling. The library will then have an intellectual look around it. Always, stick to one theme that matches with the overall theme of the house. This means that the design of the shelves needs to be contemporary in a modern setup.

A typical English style bookshelf is suited for a traditional theme. You can choose to have glass shutters for a clean modern look although the maintenance will be a little more than the mandatory dusting. Another shelving option which is highly affordable and has an industrious look is the slotted angle metal racks. As a standalone it may not do much for the decor but when combined with catchy artifacts that mingle with the books and a colourful carpet with floor cushions strewn around the place - these racks look good. Also, they can be even used as a partition wall between two living spaces. Try it out. Other freestanding options are cane bookshelves and wooden ones which have either glass or wooden shutters.

Decor

How about some really comfortable chairs, loungers, 'sink in' sofas or just a cosy couch? Well, you get the idea. The stress is on comfort, so bring on the bean bags and floor cushions if you do not want to invest in furniture as such. But make sure that you have accounted for some handy side tables. Walls are best adorned with books so look for accessories for the bookshelves and the tables. Consider stamp collections, globes or even board games like chess or checkers as desktop accessories. However, the demeanour of a framed map on the wall equals that of books and conveys almost as much. It is important that the light is suitable for a pleasant reading experience. Table lamps and down lighters are good along with some ambient lighting. Also, consider having big windows to let in sunlight. Alternately, have a glass tiled wall for diffused yet bright sunlight.

A home library may seem self indulgent to some, but for a booklover a room is seldom enough.

Source: Times Property