All Photos/living/furniture : bookcase

Living Room Bookcase Design Photos and Ideas

With the bed and desk tucked away, there’s more room to move about in the shipping container.
Sometimes all it takes is a little luck. For a young married couple, it came in the form of this rare find: a 19th-century, three-story, single-family home in the heart of Paris. The building was a charmer with good bones, but was in need of some serious care. In a vibrant retrofit by architect Pierre-Louis Gerlier that includes structural reinforcements, the reimagined design is set off with a new floor plan. The lower level now serves as a space for the couple’s children, with the public areas—including an open-plan living/dining room and kitchen—on the floor above. Upstairs, the attic has been transformed into a very large primary bedroom with a green-and-white bathroom suite. The living room (pictured) showcases the firm’s bespoke carpentry work with a beautiful, mossy-green built-in bookcase that frames a new fireplace, and a staircase surrounded by arched doorways that hold hidden storage. “We created visual breakthroughs in order to connect the different spaces,” says Gerlier. “The rounded arches are there to help magnify these moments.”
In 2009 on a quiet Los Angeles corner, Mel Elias found a severely water-damaged, crumbling 5,000-square-foot house hidden behind a tangle of overgrown vegetation. Its former owner, the late Hollywood acting coach Milton Katselas, had filled his property with industrial skylights and enormous, wood-burning fireplaces. The glass-and-concrete construction was framed by high ceilings, rusted steel beams, and varied elevations across the single-story plan. Thanks to an 11-year long, multiphase renovation by designer Carter Bradley, the home—with all of its quirks and character—shines again.
The heart of the home incorporates an inclosed winter garden that allows the residents to be surrounded by their plants, even in bad weather. The enclosed garden features automated skylights that regulate the temperature of the courtyard, as well as an irrigation system.
In the living room, a Stûv fireplace sits near Lori’s favorite place to paint. “We made the southeast corner glass, because that’s where the best view is,” says BCJ principal Ray Calabro.
An entrance hall leads to the living/dining area, where the architects used old bricks to make a fireplace, stairs, and built-in benches feel as though they were always there.
When architects Thomas Karsten and Alexandra Erhard toured the raw industrial space, they were struck by how much light streamed in, a gift bestowed by large windows and the rare presence of a private patio.
After purchasing a decrepit 1971 Airstream Sovereign for less than $5,000, Seattle-based couple Natasha Lawyer and Brett Bashaw completed a DIY overhaul of the 200-square-foot trailer for approximately $22,000. The daybed area in the front of the Airstream transitions into a small kitchen with a bathroom, while a sleeping area with a king-size bed occupies the rear.
Oliver Furth's designs permeate the space from the updated rooms down to the furnishings.
Worrell Yeung fuses the Manhattan apartment’s historic details with the owners’ vibrant collection of art and ephemera—and honors a few eccentric asks.
In the living room, a RAIS Q-Tee 2 stove and CB2 rocker warm the space.
A light pink accent wall behind the bookshelf ties the library area with the triangular threshold to the bedrooms.
The woolly looking ceramic piece on the side table is by Olesia Dvorak-Galik<span style="font-family: Theinhardt, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif;">.</span>
Berube introduced the owners to Jan Kath rugs when they couldn't find vintage carpets they liked. It was love at first sight. "I've been waiting my whole life to find these,
Berube's starting point was the continuous wall of black millwork clad in a solid matte surface by Fenix. "We decided on a dark palette to work with the exterior,
The couple's large leather sofa is an eBay find and is flanked by the spiral "Stairway to Heaven,
Throughout the house, a few recurring themes emerge: glass walls, steel framing, floor-to-ceiling bookcases, and rolling library ladders. The interiors are furnished with midcentury classics, including a vintage Eames Lounge chair, alongside Japanese works of art.
In the dining room, under one of six large industrial skylights, one of the massive hearths is ornamented with a single red tile. Though they don’t know why Katselas placed it there, Mel and designer/project manager Carter Bradley turned it into a motif that pops up unexpectedly elsewhere in the house.
Chimney corner and floor-to-ceiling bookcase
The architects designed the home’s expansion with the knowledge that the owners plan to continue the renovation when their budget allows it. "We wanted to put everything in the right place so it doesn’t have to be undone later," says Corti.
View to the Entrance
Built in the early 1970s, the house's kitchen, living, and dining areas were originally divided into three distinct zones. In order for this great room to flow as one, Klopf Architecture removed the glass doors and solid walls separating the enclosed atrium from the kitchen and living room. A Herman Miller trade poster, Design Within Reach book tower, and IKEA sofa mingle in the space.
"A steep or unstable site can make it difficult and costly to seismically retrofit a structure, or stabilize the site,” says Thomas Schaer at SHED Architecture and Design, a Seattle-based firm with extensive experience in adaptive reuse, as well as midcentury remodel. “There also may be land-use code provisions that limit or prevent development on the lot."
It’s a good idea to read reviews about specific pieces before buying them, which can help prepare you for the unexpected.
The bright living room features a fireplace, open shelving, and artwork showcasing emergent female voices, which was of particular interest to one of the owners.
The lattice-like bookcase separating the living room and family room is part of a design approach that Cristián says “blurs the line between building and furniture.” The walls and floors are concrete in all of the units.
In the Izquierdos’ living room, the slipcovered sofas were designed by Cristián based on specifications by his wife, Maida. The rug was made by a Chilean artisan whom the couple met on a trip, and the Anna XXL armchairs by Crassevig were a wedding gift.
A work by Victoria Fu and Matt Rich hangs across from a book-case by Louis in the family room. The sofa and ottomans are from Room &amp; Board, while the Drum pouf is by Softline and the rug is by West Elm.
Designer Ralph Germann inserted a partially glazed box into a 19th-century barn to form the main living space of Christine Bonvin’s home in Switzerland. Soft light enters through original arrow-loop windows.
Foldable furniture helps save space in the small house.
Joshua drew inspiration from the storage cubbies on ships for the shipping container home’s cabinetry.
The designer’s brother, Václav Valda, carved the cabinets for the container house using a milling cutter.
The design team sprayed the metal structure’s inner walls with thermal insulation. Then they framed the interior with studs and clad it in spruce plywood.
Amanda got rid of the mirrored wall and installed FLOS AIM Pendant Lights in the living room.
Architect Amanda Gunawan’s 1,620-square-foot Biscuit Loft in Downtown L.A. is awash in gentle light. Designed by French-born, Missouri-based architect E.J. Eckel in 1925, the building had been converted by Aleks Istanbullu Architect in 2006 into a live/work complex. Amanda introduced Japanese-inspired touches to soften the industrial language. The harmonious living room features a CB2 sofa, white Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman, Knoll Wassily Chair, and a rug and timber bench from Zara Home.
Inside, the voluminous living area features a double-height fireplace clad in cedar and large-format tiles—both of which are echoed along the facade as well. Full-height windows wrap around the opposite corner, providing an abundance of sunlight and helping to naturally heat the space during wintertime.
In the Dank Lounge, a film screen lowers in front of room-darkening curtains on movie nights. The deep sectional was built by Lizz and Isaac while the Blob coffee table is by Project Room, and the Scandinavian rya rug is vintage. The couple’s art collection includes works by many friends and local artists. A print by Alex Smith, along with drawings by Cammie Staros and Karl Haendel, hang in the lounge beside a painting by John Finneran and a photo by Lizz.
A sofa from Città sits in the light-filled living room.
The couple’s two sons, Isaac and Charlie, play music with Charlie’s girlfriend, Saskia Randle, in the living room, where an Isamu Noguchi Akari lantern hangs above a Cloud sectional from RH Modern.
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