SubscribeSign In
Collection by Matthew Keeshin
Editor’s Pick

Modern Homes With Libraries

These home libraries and inventive bookshelves will help you channel your inner bookworm.

View 27 Photos
The concave floor of the reading room also defines the shape of the library. Shielding the reading room from the street, it also opens the library up to the full-height window that occupies its rear façade. The library’s bookshelves were all custom built to accommodate voids for the studio’s windows and mirrors.
The concave floor of the reading room also defines the shape of the library. Shielding the reading room from the street, it also opens the library up to the full-height window that occupies its rear façade. The library’s bookshelves were all custom built to accommodate voids for the studio’s windows and mirrors.
To impart a high-design feel to the space, architect Mike Jacobs wrapped cabinetry from Ikea with a marble countertop and designed built-in bookshelves around the kitchen and study to help unify the area. Trips to shops in Palm Springs yielded the red side chair and metal magazine rack. The brown suede chair is from MidcenturyLA.
To impart a high-design feel to the space, architect Mike Jacobs wrapped cabinetry from Ikea with a marble countertop and designed built-in bookshelves around the kitchen and study to help unify the area. Trips to shops in Palm Springs yielded the red side chair and metal magazine rack. The brown suede chair is from MidcenturyLA.
Architect Tamira Sawatzky used Ikea components—one-inch Lagan butcher block countertops and inexpensive Ekby Lerberg brackets—when designing the bookshelves along the living room wall in the home/studio he designed for himself and his wife in Toronto.
Architect Tamira Sawatzky used Ikea components—one-inch Lagan butcher block countertops and inexpensive Ekby Lerberg brackets—when designing the bookshelves along the living room wall in the home/studio he designed for himself and his wife in Toronto.
More custom bookshelves in an upstairs sitting room, cleverly inserted into the villa's extant niches.
More custom bookshelves in an upstairs sitting room, cleverly inserted into the villa's extant niches.
Color and material cues help Matthew navigate the house. Reclaimed wood from a local barn marks the dining room, which also features a table from BoConcept, a Graypants pendant lamp, and molded-fiberglass chairs by Charles and Ray Eames. In the living room, the color palette of the Design Within Reach sofa and built-in bookshelves was inspired by maple trees in fall. “That’s really what universal design is about: making it as stylish as anything you’d put in anyone else’s house, but having the ability for it to be accessible,” says Coplen.
Color and material cues help Matthew navigate the house. Reclaimed wood from a local barn marks the dining room, which also features a table from BoConcept, a Graypants pendant lamp, and molded-fiberglass chairs by Charles and Ray Eames. In the living room, the color palette of the Design Within Reach sofa and built-in bookshelves was inspired by maple trees in fall. “That’s really what universal design is about: making it as stylish as anything you’d put in anyone else’s house, but having the ability for it to be accessible,” says Coplen.
Michael Marriott bookshelves in an England home kitchen, paired with a Nelson bubble lamp and Artek table and chairs. Swoon.
Michael Marriott bookshelves in an England home kitchen, paired with a Nelson bubble lamp and Artek table and chairs. Swoon.
“Many of my pieces are first-runs from Bocci, so I am the first to figure out if something is wrong [with the design]. In the bedroom, we have an early 28 chandelier; we used glass fading from white to clear for the first time, which gives it an eerie luminescence."
“Many of my pieces are first-runs from Bocci, so I am the first to figure out if something is wrong [with the design]. In the bedroom, we have an early 28 chandelier; we used glass fading from white to clear for the first time, which gives it an eerie luminescence."
Freestanding shelving by Miralles holds yet more tomes from the family’s prodigious collection. Irregularly placed tilework on the floor follows the trajectory of the sun’s rays as it travels across the room.
Freestanding shelving by Miralles holds yet more tomes from the family’s prodigious collection. Irregularly placed tilework on the floor follows the trajectory of the sun’s rays as it travels across the room.
The cavernous living room takes advantage of its height with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves.
The cavernous living room takes advantage of its height with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves.
The bookshelves lining the walls of the living room were inherited from family.
The bookshelves lining the walls of the living room were inherited from family.
Clerestory windows in Tyler's design studio provide plenty of light, while built-in bookshelves and flat files offer ample storage.
Clerestory windows in Tyler's design studio provide plenty of light, while built-in bookshelves and flat files offer ample storage.
The room also features built-in bookcases fabricated by Earthbound Industries and a vintage Sesann sofa by Gianfranco Frattini for Cassina.
The room also features built-in bookcases fabricated by Earthbound Industries and a vintage Sesann sofa by Gianfranco Frattini for Cassina.
Persistence paid off for this California couple who worked overtime for two years to tackle their all-in-one loft renovation.
Persistence paid off for this California couple who worked overtime for two years to tackle their all-in-one loft renovation.
The open-plan kitchen and living room in the de Gaspé House in Montreal's Villeray neighborhood borrows natural light from a double-height space over the seating area.
The open-plan kitchen and living room in the de Gaspé House in Montreal's Villeray neighborhood borrows natural light from a double-height space over the seating area.

7 more saves