In an ideal world, I’d have wall-to-wall bookshelves in the living room (and I have no shortage of books to fill them with), but as there’s not quite room to achieve this, bookshelf wallpaper is a great alternative.
Bookshelf and book themed wallpaper has become very popular, with several designers creating book-ish wallcoverings. It’s ideal for using to create a feature wall in your home and the bookshelf design works in even the smallest spaces.
For feature walls, you could have one wall papered in the bookshelf wallpaper, use it in the alcoves either side of a fireplace to give the impression of bookshelves, or simply use a small strip or section of it on a wall to add interest and design.
The vintage bookshelf wallpaper shown above is designed by Young & Battaglia. The textured wallpaper gives the impression that your walls are lined with bookshelves and piled with stacks of books.
The wallpaper is made in England, is 55cm wide and is sold in three metre rolls. It’s available to purchase for £70 a roll from Bouf.
For a slightly different look, the same design is available in white (£70 from Studiomold).
Designer Deborah Bowness has also created some fantastic bookshelf design wallpaper. Her Genuine Fake Bookshelf and Original Genuine Bookshelf wallpaper designs are both very realistic and would transform a wall of your home into an instant bookcase.
One single, hand-printed drop of Deborah Bowness wallpaper costs from £169 from Caravan Style, or you can order direct from Deborah Bowness.
Tracey Kendall has done away with the need for shelves in her book-themed wallpaper – instead, the paperback books are simply stacked together.
The multicoloured spines of the books not only add an element of colour into the wallpaper, but they also provide fascinating viewing, as you can’t resist looking at the book titles to see if there’s anything you’ve read or want to read (yes, it features real book titles).
The hand-screenprinted stacked paperback wallpaper costs £128 per roll from Anthropologie.
For a slightly more traditional look, this Ex Libris bookshelf wallpaper is designed by Cole and Sons and forms part of their Fornasetti Collection.
The design features a library of books etched in black on white, with beige shelving. The books are nicely finished off with gold detail on the book titles – just like you’d see on old, vintage books.
The Ex Libris bookshelf wallpaper is £78 per roll from Wallpaper Direct.
Have you used bookshelf wallpaper in your home? We’d love to hear what you’ve done with it!
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As far as brands are concerned, I’d say Dimplex is my personal favorite. They’re not too costly.