The long and sluggish days of lockdown are not at all mind-numbing for the bookworms. In fact, quarantine days have brought a great opportunity for them to finish their long awaiting books and novels. Previously, owing to the extensive workload on weekdays the only weekend was left to tuck into your couch with your favourite book and a snack or drink. But the scenario is not the same now! With no one to pull you back, you can now spend more time in your library with your darling books. Lockdown is not that bad after all!!
Therefore, while you are getting ample time now why not ponder on decorating your library room along with rearranging your books. This will not only render a fresh look to your library room but also keep your books ‘happy’. And worry no more, this post is dedicated to how you can decorate your home library and also includes a set of guidelines to take care of your loved books.
- Paint the walls to make it look more cozy and warm
Dark shades like black, shade green, deep grey or brown serve the perfect backdrop for any library. These bold colours impart a traditional look to the library making it more charming and alluring. You can also do a ‘mix n match’ of the colours on your walls to make it more fun and stylish.
- Render a touch of art; to the walls, furniture and shelves
Put on an attractive wall hang or a photo frame on your library walls. Other ideas in this order include planting some nice indoor plants, hanging large pendulum clocks, using rugs and textiles or placing a pottery item on the reading table. Paint the bookshelves preferably white or brown, or any shade that goes with your wall colour. But if you love that wooden texture of the racks better choose brown. Develop a comfortable seating place; that may be on a chair or on the floor and even on a bean bag! You can bring in a comfy couch or a wooden chair to upright your sitting posture. If on floors, lay a mattress with a dazzling cover and tuck in some energetic cushions.
- Light up your library perfectly
Lights matter most when it comes to designing a good library. A study room with inappropriate reading light doesn’t look worth. You can hang an ornamental chandelier, place trendy lampshades on the reading table, use stylish floor lamps and incorporate brass lampshades in your study room. Too much of gleam or too less of it will affect your eyes. Therefore, make sure you have an appropriate amount of reading light in your library.
- Feature your collections
Every book lover owns a various assortment of book themes; fiction, drama, poetry, fantasy or a combination of all. Instead of arranging those in a haphazard manner try to mark your shelves in your own way so that you can quickly get hold of the book you want to read. Make different partitions for magazines, dictionaries, journals and newspapers. You can use different shelf colours or any specific pattern and divisions to distinguish one from the other. One more way to make a distinction is to use the shelf space for keeping other items than that of books. It may be any personalized mugs, simple showpieces or vases.
- Don’t neglect the window
Setting up a library wall adjacent to windows brings in more encouragement and positivity to the room. If you have your reading nook away from the window, rearrange it to bring it close to the glass. Try to set your bookshelves adjacent to it; if you cannot, bring on the couch and reading table near to the windows. You can also set up a built-in seating near the panes. Place a flower pot and hang colourful curtains to the windows contrasting with the wall colours. Be assured that a home library cannot get better than this!
A few guidelines to take care of the books:
- Bring out all the books racked in the shelves and uncover them (not the book cover but any other draped by you). Clean them with a dry and fresh mop to brush away the dust particles.
- Prolonged staying on shelves subject the books to moisture and microbes and sun rays are the best treatment to it. Spread out the books on your balcony or lawn so that they get maximum sunlight. But be cautious that your books only need the morning rays. Strong sunlight can cause a negative effect on your books like wearing out of pages while fading the same.
- Make sure that any of your family members is present all the time while the book dries out to save those from birds and insects.
- Often books may get wet due to many reasons; rain, spilling of drinks and many more. Make sure to dry them properly before putting back to the shelves. You can use a hairdryer also in case of improper sunlight.
- Take care of the old books that need binding. If possible try to glue the pages or needle them. In extreme cases, separate the books that demand special attention so that you can take those for binding after lockdown ends.
- In case you have children at home, teach them how to handle books. Educate them not to read books while eating or drinking. This will foster a reading habit among your kids while making them understand the importance of books.
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