Brown Design + Development

Designer Challenge

We love a good challenge and try to be ready for anything a client may throw our way!  One of our latest projects has been working on a house that originally belonged to Bela Lugosi.  Imagine this: hunter green walls, gold ceilings and animal cages still on the hill.  It’s quite the house to say the least!  But the original architecture of the house itself is quite amazing—over 12’ ceilings, over-scaled fireplaces, high baseboards, etc—so we had a lot to work with.

For it being such a quirky house with an interesting history behind it, we didn’t want to lose any of that in the new design.  Our client wanted a way to separate the two wings of the house but also wanted to have a large bookcase as a focal piece somewhere in the house.  So when the idea of a secret passageway of sorts came along—how could we not say yes?  Paired with an old 19th century church bench and a bold antique rug, we’ve taken your standard hallway and turned it into a layered and inviting space.

 

Organizing a Bookcase

If you are organizing a bookcase with only a few books, choose a color scheme that ties into the room and will also keep the bookcase looking clean and visually pleasing. 

Layer the accessories to create depth to the overall appearance.  In the example below, smaller accessories were placed in front of larger items, while other accessories were placed on top of a stack of books.

For this type of bookcase organization, stick to books that are more for "show," stay within the color scheme and then create small, neat stacks based on size.

The same rules apply for the image below.  The bookcase is is slightly wider, but the accessories are used sparingly in order not to clutter the appearance.  A neutral color palette was selected and accessories were layered to create dimension. 

If you are organizing a bookcase with lots of books, some new rules will apply.  In order to maximize space, organize most of the books vertically.  However, in order to keep the bookcase visually interesting, incorporate a few stacks horizontally.  Every now and then, break the row of books with a decorative accessory.  

Group books by their type and height to maintain balance.  If you need to access certain books frequently, ensure those are kept toward the bottom of the bookcase and are unblocked by any layered accessories.