COVER TO COVER

YOU CAN TURN A CORNER OF YOUR HOME INTO THE PERFECT READING AREA WITH JUST A LITTLE ATTENTION TO COLOUR, SPACE AND LIGHT

- ARABELLA

DRESSED TO IMPRESS

Chimney alcoves are ideal areas to carve out a space for reading or writing, and can make the most of an otherwise underused area. Find a small writing table that fits snugly between the walls – it doesn’t have to be very deep – then install open shelves up to the ceiling. The shelf displays should then be approached as mini schemes of their own, believes Kit Kemp. ‘It’s about colour, balance, texture and weight,’ she explains. Here is one of the top floor suites at her Ham Yard Hotel in London where she’s lined the walls with her Ozone fabric designed for Christopher Farr Cloth and placed collections of books ‘to add colour and interest’.

BE DISCREET

Tone down the presence of a TV by choosing a dark paint colour for the surrounding joinery. In this scheme by Neptune (top), the inky black shelves have the dual effect of allowing the colours of the book spines to stand out while helping to minimise the presence of the screen.

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS

Historically used to hide the entrances to service quarters, jib doors can also be a clever way to make spaces feel larger. For added intrigue, make it as imperceptible as possible with a bookshelf effect (above left) so the edge of the door can be hidden within the joinery. Any architrave should then be continued across the door so it becomes part of the wall detailing, like this design by Tor Interiors.

LITERARY HIGHS