One Great Room: Bibliophile Edition

I was out scouting properties with a Realtor the other day and visited several homes with impressive libraries. Just to confirm the books were being read, I scanned the spines. Affirmative—the titles were organized by subject—something only a real bibliophile would bother to do. Then the Realtor told me that she and her daughter had recently visited a very wealthy friend’s house and afterwards, he daughter asked her why they didn’t live in a mansion, too. “Honey, that’s not a mansion,” she answered. “It doesn’t have any books.” Touché, pussycat.

If you want the look but can’t afford building shelves or amassing a collection, Deborah Bowness’ wallpaper is an acceptable substitute.