One of the things that I would envision every single time we viewed a house was how my soon-to-be library was going to look. I would determine if I'd be able to make built-ins or what the walls would look like lined with bookshelves. So, I am so incredibly pumped to finally share our home library (which also functions as my office, and a guest room). All of the rooms in our house are functional, but the library is the first room in our new home that I feel is fully complete. Check out everything below.

*Special thanks to Photowall for providing me with complimentary wallpaper of my choice and a wallpaper application kit. All opinions are my own.





The bookcase

I've had black/espresso bookshelves for literally as long as I remember, but I love the look of white shelves - they look so clean and put-together. Since I'm starting fresh, I was excited to put my books and trinkets on the shelves grouped by color, and I love the way it looks! Who knows how long it will stay this way? I typically end up just placing books on the shelves wherever they'll fit, but I'd love to keep up with the color coding.

The bottom row of books are my Stephen Kings, so they're not actually in color by order but they just had to be grouped together.






It took me literal weeks to decide on a wallpaper design. Photowall has wallpaper, prints, murals, and more. Their wallpapers are permanent, not stick and peel. I thought it would be really difficult since it was my first time ever even attempting to wallpaper, but it turned out really well. The drop match style of wallpaper (where the design runs diagonally repeatedly across the wall) is more difficult apparently, because you have to line it up perfectly, but as long as you take your time, it's fine. There were a few spots that weren't perfect, but you wouldn't really know unless you were truly inspecting the wall at our place. Check out my "home" highlight on Instagram for more images and video on the installation!









Harry Potter things

You may have noticed the lack of Harry Potter books on the main shelf. That's because my HP books and items got their own shelf. Check out my very regularly used HP set. I also have unread first edition hardbacks of Goblet of Fire, Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince, and The Deathly Hallows. I'm trying to find all of the series as a set I don't read, but haven't found the first three yet (I've mostly been checking out yard sales and thrift stores, since I actually already own all the books.). There's lot of fun little finds in my collection that I've been gathering since 2001.





Office space

I didn't really have an office space, or have the need for one before having to work from home, so this space has really been a blessing when having appointments with students. I really love this small space and it helps me keep good work-life balance by stepping away from the area at lunch or at the end of the workday.










Gallery wall

I've wanted to create a gallery wall for so long and I had so much fun putting this one together. I played around with it a bit to get it all right by laying it out on the floor. I snapped a picture, and then used a level, a pencil, and Command hooks to hang everything.















Reading space

I had this big comfy chair I planned to place in this room, but it wouldn't fit in the doorway! Yikes. So, I used our guest bed turned sideways as a kind of day bed. Reading space for me, and a place for visitors to sleep! Win-win.











I am so thrilled with how everything turned out and I'm so excited to spend more and more time in our new library room. It's got the perfect amount of sunlight with that big window, and everything I could need for the coziest reading environment. Reading goals, here I come!