Here at Flavorpill, we can’t really get enough of gazing lovingly at photographs of books. We know it’s what’s inside that counts, but one simple fact just can’t be avoided: books are beautiful, and they sure do warm up a room — or, in some cases, an entire building. Plus, at the risk of being totally sentimental, we think that the best books are often the most beautiful: even if their spines are shabby, the exude a kind of well-loved glow, beautiful from the inside out. We’ve taken a look at gorgeous bookstores and amazing college libraries, so we thought it was time to bring you a little inspiration for the home library — though we admit, not too many of these designs would fit in our own NYC apartments. Click through to check out our collection of beautiful private and personal libraries from all over the world, and let us know if you think your own collection should be on this list in the comments!
American entrepreneur Jay Walker’s private library — so important (and massive) that his house was designed and built around it. [via]
An idyllic private library in a home designed by Gianni Botsford, Cahuita, Costa Rica [via]
Miquel Mateu’s library at the castle of Peralada, Spain. [via]
Karl Lagerfeld’s home library [via]
Home library designed by Atelier Bow-Wow, Tokyo, Japan [via]
George Lucas’s library at Skywalker Ranch, a company retreat in Marin County, California. [via]
Neil Gaiman’s home library [via]
The sun-soaked library in a home remodeled from an old factory in Belgium. [via]
A private library designed by Thierry W. Despont, Toronto, Canada. [via]
Private library designed by architecture firm Ilai, photography by Lukas Wassmann. [via]
The Scholar’s Library, designed by Peter Gluck and Partners, Olivebridge, United States [via]
The innovative staircase library, designed by Levitate Architects, London. [via]
Donald Judd’s minimalist library, Marfa, Texas. [via]
The Brain, a filmmaker’s library and studio, Seattle [via]
The updated library in a 17th-century London townhouse, designed by Timothy Hatton. [via]
Part of Alberto Manguel’s private library, “a fantastic animal made up of the several libraries built and then abandoned, over and over again, throughout my life.” South of the Loire Valley, France. [via]
A private library designed by Lea Ciavarra and Anne Marie Lubrano, of Lubrano Ciavarra Architects, on Harbour Island in the Bahamas. [via]
A gorgeous view in a California home designed by Sally Sirkin Lewis. [via]
The modern library in Villa Dali, near The Hague in The Netherlands. [via]
A double level home library in a loft in Paris, France. [via]