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Mad About . . . Books

Shelflife by Charles Trevelyan

As much as I love my Kindle, I am incapable of throwing books away. Every book is a memory, a souvenir. Even if I can’t remember the plot, or the outcome, even if I didn’t even like the story, I can usually remember when I bought the book and just taking it down off the shelf results in a rush of memories.

When we were doing up the house, all our books went into storage for eight months. I really missed them. Unpacking them afterwards was like welcoming back old friends. There were quite a few.

Each book is like an old friend

We had the shelves built in for practical reasons but if we hadn’t I have always wanted a set of Charles Trevelyan’s Shelflife (pictured above). I love the way you can pull out a chair and sit and browse. And even rest your coffee on the little table. If you want to know more then visit www.viablelondon.com.

Of course, even if you have built in shelves for most of the books, you still need somewhere to store the bedtime reading, the  kids’ stories and even the recipe books. Here then, are some bookcases for you to contemplate:

STAN WIDE

£399

www.johnlewis.com

Inspired by MDF Italia’s Random Design, it makes more sense to have the shelves of different sizes

 

CONRAN BALANCE


£599

www.conranshop.co.uk

Use these as a room divider in a large space, not just for books, as they have done here. Image from macdonaldfurniture.co.uk

 

BABEL BY BONALDO

£745

www.chaplins.co.uk

The tall circular shape means it will fit into small spaces, the tower has compartments for all your storage.

 

SILK

from £1,485

www.bloq.co.uk

Based on a spider’s web, this is a great way to use every part of the room and create interest at the same time

 

CONSOLE BOOKSHELF

if you have to ask . . .

www.katzhq.com

Takes the idea of lounging around with a book to a whole new level by Latvian designer Stanislav Katz

 

 

 


Kate Watson-Smyth

The author Kate Watson-Smyth

I’m a journalist who writes about interiors mainly for The Financial Times but I have also written regularly for The Independent and The Daily Mail. My house has been in Living Etc, HeartHome and featured in The Wall Street Journal & Corriere della Sera. I also run an interior styling consultancy Mad About Your House. Welcome to my Mad House.