Product Description

This is an inspirational book that explores over 150 ways in which books can not only be stored, but made to play a full part in the character of a home, be it large or small, minimalist or full of cluttered charm. Books are among the commonest but most treasured possessions in a home, yet their storage and display is often neglected and not given serious consideration as part of the interior design - something all the more necessary as the functions of home and workplace now often merge. Chapters are devoted to separate rooms, looking in turn at reception rooms, home offices, and libraries, as well as kitchens, bathrooms, and bedrooms, with over 180 colour photographs from around the world providing a wealth of inspiration. Ingenious space-saving devices are illustrated for storing books in odd spaces within the home - for example in staircases, corridors, and hallways. There is a chapter on caring for books, plus practical pages providing useful technical hints for planning and building bookshelves (scale, proportion, materials, fittings, etc), complete with illustrated step-by-step instructions showing how to carry out your own imaginative book-storage projects. Special double-page features appear in each chapter on topics such as ingenious designer solutions, book plates, and creating furniture out of books.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1873551 in Books
• Published on: 2006-04-18
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 144 pages

From Library Journal
Powers, librarian of the Prince of Wales' Institute of Architecture, has collected a wealth of photographs depicting myriad ways to store books. He shows them in the kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and home office; in hallways and stairs; and, of course, in the library. He provides some information on the care of books, but professional and student designers will find this book especially helpful for showing how other designers have approached the design of shelving and storage of books.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Richmond Times-Dispatch, April 4, 1999
Book-lovers especially will delight in Alan Powers' "Living with Books" for the many novel ways it suggests for giving books the storage space they need and deserve. This is no simple issue: Internet users can talk as much as they like about the appeal of electronic books, but bibliophiles can't be dismissed as Luddites simply because they value the real thing. And the real thing needs a place of its own. "Living with Books" is something of a wish-book, suggesting countless ways to use shelves in attractive and practial ways...

Good Housekeeping, September 1999
Attention bookworms! Put down that novel, and check out "Living with Books" by Alan Powers; it's full of wonderful examples of how to display your Prousts and paperbacks. A chapter called "Practicalities" outlines the basics of building do-it-yourself bookcases, from wood to metal racks.