Building your library

YOU don’t have to be a designer or a collector to create a top-shelf library. Some advice from the pros on how to set up a reading room that’s a story unto itself:

Consult a carpenter: Adding bookcases and shelves in a piecemeal approach can result in a visual hodgepodge. A cabinetmaker can create a unified look or customize shelves for taller volumes. He or she also can add doors, architectural trim and labels for large collections. In designer Craig Olsen’s home, bookcases flanking a daybed have Moroccan arched wood and glass doors; lower pullout shelves double as nightstands for sleepover guests.

Aim high: Floor-to-ceiling bookcases add glamour to tall rooms, says Peter Dunham, an interior designer and proprietor of the Hollywood at Home store in Los Angeles. “They are even better if you have low ceilings, because they provide the illusion of height.” Dunham likes rolling ladders, which can be ordered through Alaco Ladder Co. in Chino, (909) 591-7561.

Paper and paint: One way to depart from the traditional men’s-club vibe of a paneled wood bookcase is to line the back and side walls with fabric, grass cloth or wallpaper, designer Jay Jeffers says. Designer Judson Rothschild silver-leafed a client’s illuminated bookcase, which “looks like a million dollars at night,” he says. For a quicker fix, try paint. Designer Timothy Corrigan used an apple green in his own library; the color provides a dramatic contrast to leather-bound books. Designer Windsor Smith chose a glossy black to showcase a collection of books and silver in her kitchen.

Get organized: The recent trend of shelving books by the color of their spines -- the kind of instant decorating trick found in shelter magazines -- may work for smaller libraries, but bibliophiles and collectors tend to organize their holdings by subject matter. “I don’t alphabetize or use the Dewey decimal system,” library consultant Nick Harvill says. “I like to arrange books that belong together in context.” Bookcases look better, he adds, when the volumes sit at the front edge and are not pushed back into the shelves.

Integrate art and accessories: There’s no need to cram shelves with books like soldiers in a straight line, Dunham says. “I like the rhythm of short and tall, leather and cloth. I lay tall books horizontally in stacks and add in objects like lacquer boxes and figurines to give bookcases texture.” Hang paintings and photographs from the uprights of cases so that art floats in front of the shelves, creating visual depth.

Cover your assets: Tossing away a dust jacket from a hardcover book “could diminish its value by 80 to 90%,” Harvill says. Printed-paper dust jackets can fade in the California sun, so he recommends Mylar covers (available from www.brodart.com), and if rare books are involved, UV-protected glass for cabinets and windows.

Make yourself comfortable: A good reading room requires adequate lighting -- picture lights or pin spots to illuminate shelves, and table and floor lamps with three-way bulbs or dimmers, Dunham says. “You also want a chair or sofa you can sink into and something you can put your feet up on.”

-- David A. Keeps