A house without books is like a room without windows ...

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The most accomplished interior designers will tell you that the best designed homes are the ones that reflect the personalities of the residents - their passions, lifestyle, dreams, wishes, hopes...

I love homes where walls are completely covered, nary an inch of paint left to be found, with big, bold beautiful paintings and framed prints, lithographs, posters and photographs for as far as the eye can see. I love walking into homes where books and magazines line shelves and walls, sit upon tables and desks and even the floors. You can learn so much about a person from what hangs on their walls... from which books line the shelves, adorn the coffee tables, are piled high to the ceiling.

I grew up in a home where art, architecture and the arts played a major role. My parents were voracious readers of fiction, history, biography, memoirs. We had art books galore with beautiful images of paintings and artists I would one day study. My parents' love of books was passed down to me. I inhaled them. Devoured them. Simply could not get enough of them. I chose them often for their colorful coverrs, and once opened, I became entranced, transported, lost to lands and characters so far away. I loved the way books smelled, the way they felt in my hands, the sounds of the paper as the pages turned.

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Books were magical. Everything about them was. My grandfather was a published author. His books lined the top shelf of the small room in our Fifth Avenue Apartment that we referred to as my father's office. I used to love to sit in the big oversized chair and just look at the books that lined the burgundy walls. My own closets were overflowing with them, from childhood tales, to classic stories, to the modern stories of coming of age that seemed to parallel my own youth. My grandmother's homes, both in the South of France and in Oxfordshire were brimming with books. Her books were organized by color, not by subject or by author, and added to the overall decor of her grand libraries. When I went to friends houses I would scour their books and always find something that I hadn't read that I would end up borrowing. As an only child, books were instant friends. Without built-in play mates, I could always turn to a book for a great adventure, laugh or even a good cry. My children read but they prefer their electronic readers and this saddens me greatly. The artist in me, the writer in me and the reader in me is saddened greatly by decline of book publishing over recent years. Without books some of our greatest rooms would be so very bland and dull.

“A book is a gift you can open again and again.”  Garrison Keillor

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Surrounded by books in a home office. Who wouldn't be inspired work?

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Books and other personal artifacts make this room feel like home.

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To dine among the books... as wonderful as dining among the stars!

 

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I would sit here for hours and hours...
I could very well become a recluse if I had a nook by a window such as this in my home!

 

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I love the transformation of an otherwise useless landing at the bottom of the stairs. 

This is brilliant use of what, in my opinion, is dead space.

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I love the combination of the masculine black and the feminine chandelier -  This space seems so welcoming and cozy which is what I want when I curl up with a good book!

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I love the books piled high like this. I am not sure why but I have always been drawn to piles of books.
But I wonder, what if I wanted to read that one down there, third from the bottom of the pile?!

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I'm not sure how I feel about the books being stored in the fireplace. Here it seems as though they are seemingly crammed in solely to fill a space. Perhaps if they were in there in a more orderly fashion I might feel differently... But the idea of books near a fireplace, even an unused one, has me a bit on edge.

       

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Books are as much at home in the kitchen as they are in the library, office or any other room. Here, in my kitchen, I display some of my most adored cookbooks. The books covered in white were my grandmother's. She left her entire collection to me. I've thought of covering mine as well.

I do love the look of the all white.

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Cookbooks in kitchens really are a must! And as is my mantra with books, the more the merrier! And cookbooks, truth be told, are my most favorite types of books!

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   Seriously? A bathtub... books... I think I have found an example of heaven on earth!

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Books can really make and brighten and add personality to any room!

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Look closely... very closely...these aren't really books at all!

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I may be biased, but this is my idea of a library!
This was my grandmother's library in her Oxfordshire home.
Notice the color coded books? And beneath them on the left hand side,
 the large collection of Frank Sinatra records I have ever seen! I wonder what ever did happen to those?

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The Oxfordshire library from another angle. Look closely at the books on the beige wall behind the couch...

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 Behind the recliner, more books... but look closely... they trick the eye, don't they! 

My grandmother was a huge fan of Trompe L'oeuil!

I wish you all a Maginifient Monday!
Go pour yourself a glass of champagne and lose yourself in a good book!

XOXO

Jessica

Photos via: 1 Google, 2 Martha Stewart, 3 elements of style, 4 Martha Stewart, 5 architectural digest, 6 unknown, 7 beautifullibraries.com 8+9 Martha Stewart, 10+ 14 Apartment Therapy, 11 House Beautiful, 12 Tartanscot, 13 New England Home, 14, unclutterer.comm, 15 Jessica Gordon Ryan/The Entertaining House, 16 ElleDecor, 17 Tumblr,  18 Sanctuary, 19 Houzz, 20-22 ElleDecor