{"id":357,"date":"2014-01-15T12:00:59","date_gmt":"2014-01-15T17:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kimcookhome.com\/kchblog\/?p=357"},"modified":"2014-10-25T18:07:51","modified_gmt":"2014-10-25T22:07:51","slug":"libraries-become-retreats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kimcookhome.com\/kchblog\/libraries-become-retreats\/","title":{"rendered":"Libraries Become Retreats"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By KIM COOK<\/a><\/div>\n

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The Associated Press<\/div>\n
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With the advent of tablets, cellphones and e-readers, could the book-lined home library go the way of the formal dining room?<\/p>\n

Not a chance, designers and retailers said.<\/p>\n

Digital and print books can co-exist, said House Beautiful\u2019s editor in chief Newell Turner.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen there\u2019s an endless river of (digital) content, the words, text and images we choose to print and bind into a physical book will make (it) even more special,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

And books, in their variety of shapes and sizes, can be art in their own right, he said. Certainly, many people display richly illustrated coffee table books. And at Hearst\u2019s October 2013 Designer Visions show house in New York, Jamie Drake took the books-as-art notion literally: For his House Beautiful apartment, he turned large books spine sides in and stacked them geometrically in wall recesses to flank a fireplace as sculptural art.<\/p>\n

\u201cBooks are precious and beautiful, both their contents and materials. I was inspired to provoke thoughts, placing the bulk of the spines away from the viewer, thus highlighting the thousands of paper pages and creating a sense of desire to discover what lies within,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For Elle Decor at the show house, Alessandra Branca created a warm, intimate library with just two bookshelves and a chrome easel for a flat-screen television. A large Candida Hofer photograph of Dublin\u2019s Trinity College Library provided a trompe l\u2019oeil effect, as if the library extended into the image. Branca imagined the space, which included walls covered in chocolatey faux bois (wood-grain appearance) sateen and a plump sofa blanketed in tartan, as a room where you could store favorite vintage books but also use a digital reader.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing can replace the wonderful feel of sitting curled up with a book, or the happenstance of discovering a book on the shelf that you haven\u2019t seen for a while, particularly books on art, architecture or design,\u201d she said. \u201cI think we\u2019ll always love the physical aspect of a book in hand, but I\u2019ve found I buy more and more of my new fiction online.\u201d<\/p>\n

New York interior designer Elaine Griffin sees the role of home libraries changing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve come a long way from the English country home-inspired libraries of the \u201880s \u2014 those spaces that looked like Carson (the butler on \u201cDownton Abbey\u201d) might come in at any moment to do a little dusting,\u201d Griffin said. \u201cToday\u2019s home libraries are retreats, actually \u2014 places to retreat as an individual from the more chaotic, group-themed spaces of the rest of the house.\u201d<\/p>\n

Home libraries are reading sanctuaries, she said, but clients often want a TV included. \u201cThe space is an alternative to the Great Room, used for solo viewing, for snuggling, for seclusion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many modern bookshelves are multi-purpose, with space to display objects as well as reading matter. All Modern stocks TFG Connections\u2019 black powder-coated steel frame with java oak shelves; the components can be configured a number of ways. Modloft\u2019s Pearl bookcase has open shelves in a contemporary zigzag design; finishes include white, wenge (a dark wood) and walnut with chrome supports.<\/p>\n

Create an enveloped space by running shelves up to the ceiling; wood tones keep the ambience warm, but consider white or even an interesting color \u2014 creamy yellow or rich carmine (deep red), for example \u2014 so books, accessories and art will pop. Add a rolling library ladder; Home Depot offers several in maple, cherry or oak finishes.<\/p>\n

Spanish design house Playoffice turns a run-of-the-mill home library into a playhouse with a sturdy mesh net suspended across the whole space like an enormous hammock. Kids (and adults) can take pillows and books up to the net to read and, literally, hang out.<\/p>\n

The studio has also designed a clever \u201cSecret Reading\u201d wall \u2014 a series of cupboards made from inexpensive chipboard that includes bookshelves and kid-size cushioned cubbies. Doors can be closed to hide the secret readers and other stuff. Puck lights are built into the cubby ceilings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n