Living with Books - Tapa dura

This is an inspirational book that explores over 150 ways in which books can not only be stored, but made to play a full part in the character of a home, be it large or small, minimalist or full of cluttered charm. Books are among the commonest but most treasured possessions in a home, yet their storage and display is often neglected and not given serious consideration as part of the interior design - something all the more necessary as the functions of home and workplace now often merge. Chapters are devoted to separate rooms, looking in turn at reception rooms, home offices, and libraries, as well as kitchens, bathrooms, and bedrooms, with over 180 colour photographs from around the world providing a wealth of inspiration. Ingenious space-saving devices are illustrated for storing books in odd spaces within the home - for example in staircases, corridors, and hallways. There is a chapter on caring for books, plus practical pages providing useful technical hints for planning and building bookshelves (scale, proportion, materials, fittings, etc), complete with illustrated step-by-step instructions showing how to carry out your own imaginative book-storage projects.Special double-page features appear in each chapter on topics such as ingenious designer solutions, book plates, and creating furniture out of books.

DR ALAN POWERS writes and lectures on architecture and applied art, and is the author of the best-selling Front Cover (1 84000 421 5, published 2001, sales of 13,500) and the follow-up title Childrens Book Covers (1 84000 693 5). He teaches at the University of Greenwich, London, and is closely involved with the Twentieth Century Society, an architectural preservation body, and with Pollock's Toy Museum in London. He contributes regularly to Country Life, Crafts, and the Spectator, and has curated a number of exhibitions on the art and design of the 20th century. He lives in Bloomsbury, London.