live22 A Home Library Can Tell Your Life Story

If you own a lot of bookslive22, it’s great to have a place to celebrate and enjoy them. That’s why a home library can be so appealing: It’s a welcoming retreat where you can appreciate and be inspired by volumes you’ve collected over the years.

“Libraries are inherently personal, where you’re surrounded by the things you love,” said Courtney Coleman, a founding partner of Brockschmidt & Coleman, an interior design firm with offices in New York and New Orleans. “It offers a kind of personal history, because it reflects things that have informed your life and that you’re interested in.”

ImageA sofa and lounge chairs make a library designed by Robert Stilin deeply inviting. Credit...Stephen Kent Johnson

Ms. Coleman and her partner, Bill Brockschmidt, routinely design home libraries for their clients that feel like special destinations, where homeowners and visitors are encouraged to spend hours turning pages.

Here’s how they and other designers create home libraries that feel like much more than storage spaces.

Find a Space

Having a dedicated room for a home library is a wonderful thing, but space constraints don’t always allow for one. If you lack a spare room to turn into a library, one can be added to a space you might not have considered, like a wide hallway, an alcove or even an unused corner in a larger room.

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