The Southern cookbook collector Richmond Ellis turned to his husband, the interior designer Thomas Jayne, to conceive the custom shelving in their New York City apartment for his most beloved tomes.
Photo: Kate Sears
It took more than twenty coats of a custom red lacquer for the interior designer Barrie Benson to arrive at the ideal shade and level of shine for the walls of her clients Jimmie and Chandra Johnson’s Charlotte, North Carolina, library.
Photo: Brie Williams
A deep chocolate brown lacquer with a hint of purple sets off this family library in New Orleans by the interior designer Colleen Waguespack.
Photo: Alison Gootee
Books informed everything about the design of the late writer and Garden & Gun contributor Julia Reed’s Delta folly, from the dining room to the kitchen to the view of her collection from her bedroom.
Photo: Paul Costello
No vacation retreat is complete without proper reading material, as evidenced by the Cashiers, North Carolina, library owned by Urban Electric founder Dave Dawson.
Photo: Ali Harper
The designer Jen Langston chose a dusty lavender paint color from Farrow & Ball called Brassica for the library of this historic row house she renovated in downtown Charleston, South Carolina.
Photo: Brie Williams
In the Atlanta, Georgia, library and sitting room of the interior designer Jared Hughes, bespoke shelves for his most treasured books were painted green to set the millwork off from the rest of the room like a piece of furniture.
Photo: Ali Harper
For Zoë and Brys Stephens, the kitchen in their historic Charleston, South Carolina, home wasn’t complete without a space for their cookbooks.
Photo: Brie Williams
The Stephenses also celebrated their love of books by creating this richly hued library inside their historic Charleston, South Carolina, home.
Photo: Brie Williams
The spectacularly magical library inside the home of the painter and sculptor Beatrix Ost in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Photo: Paul Whicheloe
A dark hue on the interior bookshelves of an otherwise white library sets off a collection of books and objects in this Birmingham, Alabama, home designed by Fran Keenan.
Photo: GRAHAM YELTON
A display of books brings sweet dreams in the bedroom of a Rappahannock River retreat.
Photo: Patricia Lyons
A cozy nook in the Nashville library designed by Benjamin Vandiver for the Kings of Leon drummer Nathan Followill and his singer-songwriter wife Jessie Baylin.
Photo: Caroline Allison
