The Reading Room: Choose a Strong Colour for your Library Bookcases

There’s something quietly luxurious about a snug that’s been properly considered – a place that invites you to pause, gather your thoughts, or get utterly lost in a book. For this project, we designed and handmade a bespoke library to fit effortlessly amongst the colourway and interior of the room.

Painted in Farrow & Ball, Paean Black, the cabinets combine open shelving with concealed storage, giving space for everything from well-thumbed novels to tucked-away board games. Every detail – from the soft-close drawers to the carefully chosen hardware – was thought through to feel calm, grounded, and gently tactile.

There’s a particular kind of atmosphere that comes from having bookcases in a lounging space. Visually, they bring texture and rhythm to a wall, breaking up solid colour with spines of varying height, colour and age. But more than that, they add soul – a sense that the room has stories to tell and layers to discover.

This snug now feels like exactly what it was meant to be: a room to retreat to, to recharge in, and to feel quietly at home.

Have an idea for some library bookcases? Call the team on 01440 788850