Books are our way to travel through time, space, and different worlds. Avid bookworms well know how important it is to have your very own home library that holds all of your most precious books.

Organizing books quickly becomes something of a ritual, where every single one of them has their special place and only you know the key to how they’re sorted. Having a home library is, therefore, something that will enrich your home, so we’d love to share three magic home library designs. Take a look!

A spacious living room featuring a sizable bookcase filled with books, featuring a ladder.
On both sides of the fireplace, there are bookshelves filled with books which are made of wood.
A cozy living room with wooden bookshelves filled with books and a comfortable couch placed in the center.
Man seems relaxed, engrossed in a book on a hammock inside a room with stairs and a large book shelf.
A spacious bookcase filled with numerous books of various sizes and colors.
Spacious library with tall bookshelves filled with books featuring a comfortable chair in the side of the room.
A massive wooden bookcase stands tall, adorned with countless books. Comfortable chairs are scattered around.
A cozy living room with a table adorned with a vase of flowers, surrounded by a red chair and a large book case.
A narrow living room with a wooden ladder leaning against a wall adorned with bookshelves filled with books.
A modern living room showcases a spacious bookcase filled with books and a long couch.
A woman, setting up a table in a room with large bookshelves.
Staircase with built-in bookshelves offering access to many books.
A long hallway stretches ahead, adorned with tall bookshelves filled with books on both sides split by a rug that lies on the floor.
Book shelves are neatly arranged, and the sliding door is partially open, revealing a glimpse of the outside world.
Hallway with tall bookshelves filled with books and a room with a bed.
Hallway with a wooden bookshelf lining the wall with a red carpet on the floor.
A wooden staircase leads to a hallway with a bookcase. The staircase leads upwards, while the bookcase stands as a focal point.
A hallway with bookshelves showcasing a variety of books, complemented by a patterned black and white rug.
Long hallway with multiple bookshelves and a striped rug.
A hallway with a curved wall showcasing a bookshelf filled with various books and decorative items.
A white hallway with a bookshelf flanked by another room that has a chair.
A room featuring a vibrant red chair, bookshelves across the wall, and ceiling-to-floor glass windows.
A library adorned with plush leather couches and lined with shelves filled with books.
A busy living room with vibrant blue walls and lined with elegant bookshelves.
A-frame home with double doors surrounded by a full book shelf.
Living room featuring grey couches and large bookshelves.
A cozy living room with bookshelves and a wooden ladder.
A white-themed room with a ladder to the above-door bookcase.
A bookcase filled with numerous books fronted by a wooden chair.
A cozy living space with white walls and bookshelves, featuring a grey couch with throw pillows.
A white room adorned with bookshelves mounted above the doorway.
A living space adorned with a comfy couch, bookshelves above the doorway, and a stylish rug.
A woman sitting in a chair by a window surrounded by bookshelves.
A room featuring a white couch and bookshelves flanked by another room with hats mounted on the wall.

 

1. High Ceiling Home Libraries  

If your home is blessed with ceilings that stretch up high, utilize them for your home library and create an endless space to fill with books! Granted, you’ll need a ladder to get to the highest shelves, but that just adds an unexpected element to your living space!

A spacious living room featuring a sizable bookcase filled with books, featuring a ladder.

Photo Credit: Livabl

A great big white bookcase paired with a black ladder seems to be a match made in library heaven.

On both sides of the fireplace, there are bookshelves filled with books which are made of wood.

Photo Credit: Home Designing

A home library will wonderfully contribute to the warm atmosphere of your living room!

A cozy living room with wooden bookshelves filled with books and a comfortable couch placed in the center.

Photo Credit: Outside Looking In

Your personal library can even blend into your room like a literary chameleon, as seen by this example, like it was always meant to be a part of the interior!

Man seems relaxed, engrossed in a book on a hammock inside a room with stairs and a large book shelf.

Photo Credit: Dornob

This is a high-ceiling library on another level! Adding a lifted hammock to your library will create a unique reading nook that will surely become one of your favorite places in the entire home!

A spacious bookcase filled with numerous books of various sizes and colors.

Photo Credit: Slay Girl Slay

This library almost has a royal look to it! Whatever your preferred choice of decor is, a high-ceiling library will fit right in!

Spacious library with tall bookshelves filled with books featuring a comfortable chair in the side of the room.

Photo Credit: BlazePress

If you really have a large collection of books, you can dedicate a special place in the house solely for the library and still build it all the way up to the ceiling!

A massive wooden bookcase stands tall, adorned with countless books. Comfortable chairs are scattered around.

Photo Credit: Archi Capital

Here’s another special library, set up like a true reading room. This one has a stunning wooden interior that gives us a feeling of a true, traditional library!

A cozy living room with a table adorned with a vase of flowers, surrounded by a red chair and a large book case.

Photo Credit: A Cup of Jo

Have a limited selection of books but love the idea of a home library? Hold onto that idea! If you look closely, this home library also has other elements to it, such as boxes, files, and even a showcase!

A narrow living room with a wooden ladder leaning against a wall adorned with bookshelves filled with books.

Photo Credit: Decoholic

The number one benefit of high ceilings, other than opening up the living space, is that they are really convenient when we’re decorating and give us a ton of freedom. Just look at this library that is so neatly placed above the TV!

A modern living room showcases a spacious bookcase filled with books and a long couch.

Photo Credit: Home DSGN

This home library almost looks subtle. It’s there and you absolutely notice it, but it is so non-invasive that it allows the room to retain a calm look.

A woman, setting up a table in a room with large bookshelves.

Photo Credit: Kitchn

Any room can benefit from a home library; there are no rules against it! If you look at this great example, you will see that even a dining room can have a lovely high-ceiling library!

Staircase with built-in bookshelves offering access to many books.

Photo Credit: BookBub Club

Behold the highest ceiling of them all, and it has a marvelous library built right up to it! When you own so many books that you need a whole stairway to lead you to the top, you absolutely deserve a “Bookworm of the Year” award!

2. Hallway Libraries 

Hallways are often an unused space, and what a shame that is. Ignoring such an important piece of your home, one that leads you from one beautiful room into another is something to reconsider. If you are on the hunt for ideas of how you can utilize your hallways or just want to build your library somewhere special, you’ll love the ideas below!

A long hallway stretches ahead, adorned with tall bookshelves filled with books on both sides split by a rug that lies on the floor.

Photo Credit: Decorating Your Small Space

Two bookcases opposing each other create a passage filled with books and the stories they hold. We’re willing to bet you’ll always be stopping on your way through to pick out your next read.

Book shelves are neatly arranged, and the sliding door is partially open, revealing a glimpse of the outside world.

Photo Credit: Metalocus

The longer the hallway, the bigger the library! What makes this one especially amazing is the natural light!

Hallway with tall bookshelves filled with books and a room with a bed.

Photo Credit: Rebecca Alasdair

Even a smaller hallway can work with its own library! The size shouldn’t be a limitation, it can always be used as an advantage.

Hallway with a wooden bookshelf lining the wall with a red carpet on the floor.

Photo Credit: Homedit
A wooden staircase leads to a hallway with a bookcase. The staircase leads upwards, while the bookcase stands as a focal point.

Photo Credit: Homedit.

You can see in the two pictures above that a wooden home library always works. Depending on your choice of wood, you can make it warmer or cooler, but either way, you are in for a treat. It looks classy and elegant, just like a proper library should!

A hallway with bookshelves showcasing a variety of books, complemented by a patterned black and white rug.

Photo Credit: Robertaebasta 
Long hallway with multiple bookshelves and a striped rug.

Photo Credit: Décor Pad

These two hallway libraries seem almost endless. The first one is decorated in black tones, and the other one is the opposite, decorated in white. Both carry a mysterious feeling, leaving you wondering what is at the end but compelling you to stop at the wonderfully organized bookshelves.

A hallway with a curved wall showcasing a bookshelf filled with various books and decorative items.

Photo Credit: Postris

Round hallway, round library. What a lovely addition to an already dynamic hallway!

A white hallway with a bookshelf flanked by another room that has a chair.

Photo Credit: Sweatpants & Coffee

Sometimes, your rooms are connected by the smallest hallway. We can’t think of a better way to decorate it than with a library that holds your collection of favorite books.

A room featuring a vibrant red chair, bookshelves across the wall, and ceiling-to-floor glass windows.

Photo Credit: Home Designing

Just because your library is set in a hallway doesn’t mean it can’t instantly be turned into a reading nook. All you need is a comfortable armchair!

3. Libraries Above The Doorway

Speaking of unused spaces, how does the space above the doorway of any of your rooms look like? Is it empty? If so, here are some amazing doorway libraries that will surely inspire you to upgrade that empty space into literary excellence!

A library adorned with plush leather couches and lined with shelves filled with books.

Photo Credit: Patina & Paint

Notice how peaceful every single wooden home library looks. Craving some peace and quiet? This one is just the one you’ll want to go with!

A busy living room with vibrant blue walls and lined with elegant bookshelves.

Photo Credit: Architectural Digest

If your small living space is already decorated to be contemporary and you think you couldn’t possibly fit a library into it, this picture speaks volumes!

A-frame home with double doors surrounded by a full book shelf.

Photo Credit: Inspired by The Edge

Dedicating a special corner above the doorway solely to your books will completely transform the entrance to a room and you’ll never regret it.

Living room featuring grey couches and large bookshelves.

Photo Credit: Summit Daily

When a home library is done like the one we found here, it serves as an instant motivation to take a few hours each day and devote them to reading. Who wouldn’t want to spend time in a room like this?!

A cozy living room with bookshelves and a wooden ladder.

Photo Credit: Vintage Industrial Style

The beauty of a library above the doorway is that it can always retain a small and cozy feeling, perfect for people who like to live in smaller spaces!

A white-themed room with a ladder to the above-door bookcase.

Photo Credit: Homes To Love

If you are thinking ahead and already know in the beginning stages of decorating that you want a library above the doorway, opting for custom-made recessed shelves is a really cost-effective move!

A bookcase filled with numerous books fronted by a wooden chair.

Photo Credit: DigsDigs

This library design is perfect for an office or a home study, creating an academic ambiance! Books are an endless source of knowledge!

A cozy living space with white walls and bookshelves, featuring a grey couch with throw pillows.

Photo Credit: Daily Dream Décor

When you have a big, bright, open space, it’s hard to imagine not decorating it with books. True bookworms always have too many books, so make use of even the smallest place above the doorway!

A white room adorned with bookshelves mounted above the doorway.

Photo Credit: Coco Lapine Design

Look at this example of how your library can benefit from being a mix of books and personal items, not to mention how lovely it makes the doorway look!

A living space adorned with a comfy couch, bookshelves above the doorway, and a stylish rug.

Photo Credit: Nook

Whether you build a special reading nook or just intuitively turn your room into one, a doorway will look rather empty without any books. Don’t make that mistake, and get inspired by this efficient bookshelf design.

A woman sitting in a chair by a window surrounded by bookshelves.

Photo Credit: The Captive Reader

Building a home library above the doorway gives you more space in the room itself to decorate it as you wish, for example, making a window seat to complement the library!

A room featuring a white couch and bookshelves flanked by another room with hats mounted on the wall.

Photo Credit: Home Life

The final doorway library is this stylish example, and its simple look instantly inspired us, which any home can benefit from!

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