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Deep Color Soothes in a Favorite Reading Room
A wood-burning fireplace, beloved collections and comfortable seating make this library a family favorite
“This room is the one everyone gravitates to at night, especially in fall and winter,” says interior designer Nikki Dalrymple. The library, with a wood-burning fireplace as a focal point, is the place where a young family plays board games on the floor and chooses a favorite book to cozy up with, and where the adults enjoy a glass of wine. Dramatic paint, American Colonial and Parisian apartment-style moldings, and a wide variety of inviting textures make it easy to see why the room is so popular with the family whether or not it’s fireplace season.
At 11 by 20 feet, the room is long but relatively narrow. “There were so many shelves in here that we actually removed two bookshelves so that we could fit the sofa here. We really wanted the sofa to face the fireplace,” Dalrymple says. The vintage sofa’s well-worn leather is just the right place to settle in with a selection at night.
“It was all about drama, drama, drama in here, and the very overscaled [Thom Filicia] painting was just the right fit,” the designer says. The throw pillows bring a dash of Parisian style.
The homeowner loves all kinds of books, from vintage editions of the classics to new hardcovers, from pulp paperbacks to coffee table-caliber art and design monographs. In fact, she’s an antiques lover who enjoys hunting for all sorts of things, and who has collected boxes, tramp art, busts, natural history curiosities and more over time.
“It was all about drama, drama, drama in here, and the very overscaled [Thom Filicia] painting was just the right fit,” the designer says. The throw pillows bring a dash of Parisian style.
The homeowner loves all kinds of books, from vintage editions of the classics to new hardcovers, from pulp paperbacks to coffee table-caliber art and design monographs. In fact, she’s an antiques lover who enjoys hunting for all sorts of things, and who has collected boxes, tramp art, busts, natural history curiosities and more over time.
Another big consideration for the design was the openings to other rooms. The library is open to three — the front hallway, kitchen and sunroom. Dalrymple had to consider the views into and out of each room, and design a space that would fit among them. Here you can see the entrance to the front hallway. A shelf overhead takes advantage of the space.
Two velvet Kravet chairs add luxe softness and modern silhouettes, while a shagreen console table and chunky weave basket bring in a mix of textures to the room. The oil-rubbed bronze coffee table has clear glass on the top and smoked glass on the bottom. The geometrical pieces are papier-mâché boxes. “They are so much fun in a grouping; they function as a sculpture together,” she says.
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Two velvet Kravet chairs add luxe softness and modern silhouettes, while a shagreen console table and chunky weave basket bring in a mix of textures to the room. The oil-rubbed bronze coffee table has clear glass on the top and smoked glass on the bottom. The geometrical pieces are papier-mâché boxes. “They are so much fun in a grouping; they function as a sculpture together,” she says.
Find velvet chairs in the Houzz Shop
The designer left the ceiling a light color and used a pale rug. “At 9 feet, the ceilings in here are pretty high for a Colonial, but I thought if we added color to the ceiling, it would feel too much like a cave,” she says. The ceiling color also prevents a jarring contrast between the library and adjacent light-colored rooms, such as the kitchen.
The floors are original, stained with a rich mahogany stain. The wool-and-silk antique rug adds softness and makes the floor a favorite spot for playing board games.
The floors are original, stained with a rich mahogany stain. The wool-and-silk antique rug adds softness and makes the floor a favorite spot for playing board games.
In addition to overhead recessed lights for reading, antique brass sconces provide ambience. The designer chose bright green raw silk shades as a whimsical detail that plays off some of the vintage books across the room.
Shop for all kinds of lighting
Shop for all kinds of lighting
“This is a true library in the sense that everyone loves to use it as a reading room,” Dalrymple says. With the room’s large bookshelves and the family’s sizable book inventory, she found that arranging the books somewhat by color and then by genre was the way to go. “Each title is easy to find, but color coordination helps them read like art,” Dalrymple says.
Heavy monographs are easier and safer to access placed close to the floor, while lighter vintage sets of books and paperbacks are up on high shelves. The beloved book collection, curated over many years, “is just as interesting as any of the other objects on the shelves,” she says.
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Heavy monographs are easier and safer to access placed close to the floor, while lighter vintage sets of books and paperbacks are up on high shelves. The beloved book collection, curated over many years, “is just as interesting as any of the other objects on the shelves,” she says.
More
How to Care for Your Home Library
World of Design: 11 Book Lovers and Where They Like to Read
Shop for bookcases
Library at a Glance
What happens here: A young family of three basks in the warmth of the fire, plays games, reads, and enjoys collections of art and curiosities
Location: Wellesley, Massachusetts
Size: 220 square feet (20 square meters)
Designer: Nikki Dalrymple of Acquire
“We knew we wanted moody and dramatic, but the kickoff was the tile around the fireplace. It is original to the home,” Dalrymple says. The fireplace tile set the tone for the room — the designer matched the color with Benjamin Moore’s Newburg Green, and used a lacquer finish on the walls and millwork.
Dalrymple also added new millwork to the room: The dentil molding by the ceiling matches other original molding in the 1909 Colonial-style home, and the fireplace millwork is a revamp.
“The panel moldings add more formality. They were inspired by Parisian rooms,” she says. “I wanted them to look like old moldings without going over the top with crazy plasterwork.” The resulting picture frame moldings are painted in the same color as the walls. “It gives the walls some interesting architecture without screaming,” she says.
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