12 Cozy Home Library Ideas

There are few things better than curling up in a comfy corner of your house with a good book. While most of us don’t have the square footage for full-blown, distinct libraries in our houses, there are plenty of creative ways to achieve that same snug comfort in the space we do have. Here, we’ve rounded up the best ideas for outfitting your own home library so you can get to work on your reading list. 

Make It Moody

Designer Sarah Bartholomew leaned into handsome colors and rich textures in the part library, part cocktail nook in our 2021 Idea House in Kentucky. Chocolate brown grasscloth wraps the corner in relaxed comfort, while the tufted banquette in the same melty shade doubles down on the study’s linger-worthy coziness.

Fill Shelves Thoughtfully

In the sitting room of this Texas Hill Country home, designer Phoebe Howard paired the owners’ assortment of books with two additional collections—antique baskets and blue-and-white spatterware—to round out the shelves’ carefully curated effect. Word to the wise? “Don’t put [open shelves] in unless you have books,” she notes. “It’s too hard to fill with just bric-a-brac.” 

Carve Out a Reading Nook

If devoting an entire room to a library isn’t in the cards, there are other ways to create nooks that foster that same bookish coziness. Take, for example, this Albany, Georgia, home’s entry, where designer Mallory Mathison Glenn transformed what would’ve been a pass-through space into an inviting spot to curl up with a cup of hot tea and a good book. 

Don’t Shy Away from Dark Shades

Designer Lauren Liess leaned into deep, woodsy tones for the library in our 2020 Idea House in Asheville, North Carolina, installing floor-to-ceiling oak bookshelves and washing the ceiling in a rich brown-green shade (Sherwin-Williams’ Momentum, SW 9530). “Dark colors have a cavelike effect and create a sense of privacy,” she says.

Indulge a Bit of Whimsy

Homeowner Shalla Prichard’s love of books (a hobby she shares with her mom and daughters) and a favorite Hermès scarf drove the design of this Houston, Texas, jewel-box reading nook, where designer Amanda Simmons positioned a comfy chaise wrapped in Clarence House’s transportive Cartagena print.

Spring for Drama

Designer Fran Keenen dialed up the excitement in this Homewood, Alabama, sitting room by washing its walls in Farrow & Ball’s Bancha (No. 298) and then layering in gold tones via the chartreuse velvet sofa, an ornate gilt mirror, and brass reading lights over the shelves. 

Showcase Treasured Finds

An assortment of old and newer books, plus items amassed in her family’s travels, infuse the jam-packed library in Francie MacDougall’s midcentury Birmingham, Alabama, home with a sense of genuine, collected warmth. 

Choose A Hero

Hanna Seabrook employed just one pattern in her family’s Louisville, Kentucky, library and den (Peter Dunham Textiles’ Samarkand), allowing the handsomely styled shelves to play the starring role. The cushy seating encourages people to tuck in for a while.

Loosen Up a Little

To temper the seriousness and formality of her 1850s New Orleans library, with its marble mantel and handsome books, designer and homeowner Grace Kaynor opted to saturate the walls in a glossy, offbeat shade of chartreuse: Benjamin Moore’s Olive Moss, 2147-20.

Introduce a Loud Hue

A library typically calls for peace and quiet, but in the living room library of his New Orleans ranch, designer and homeowner Shaun Smith shuffled one wild card into the otherwise white-and-airy space: a look-at-me-orange sofa that delivers a welcome burst of sunny color. 

Add a Ladder

Even if your library consists of only a pair of built-in shelves, give it a sense of playful grandness with the addition of a rolling library ladder, like the Watson family did in their house on Georgia’s Vernon River. It’s practical (you can reach things on the top shelves), plus it adds motion—just right for an outdoors-loving family with two active sons.

Redefine the Library

You don’t have to have floor-to-ceiling shelves and leather-bound books to channel your favorite library at home. In her Columbus, Georgia, living room, designer Chenault James treated her father-in-law’s collection of National Geographic magazines as a decorative element, incorporating them into the space as an eye-catching colorblock of warm gold.