After Christmas, I crave simplicity–especially in our home library. I am ready to take everything off the shelves once guests have left. I love the neutral simplicity and this home library here on White Cottage Farm is neutral-inspired, but perfect for the winter months. I realize for some people, the number of books and accessories is a lot. For me, it is just the right mix for a winter neutral-inspired home library. I hope you’re inspired to make your own home library feel cozy.
Last year, while we went thrifting and antiquing, I started collecting neutral books. I had a look like this in mind. If you don’t have enough neutral colored books, consider wrapping your books to get a similar neutral look. You can achieve this look with multiple colored books as–all green books, blue books, or whatever color you’re feeling. I went for tans, whites, and every neutral shade in between. I love the look because there is a variety.
Speaking of painted book shelves, I painted these bookshelves right before Christmas including the trim in the room. It’s a perfect darker mushroom color and it is a custom color I made based on an antique that I love. The antique? My favorite Mora Clock that is in our front living room.
I wouldn’t be a good friend if I didn’t give you the formula so you can make this custom color yourself! Here’s the color, so you can have this same look in your home:
The Paint Color
BASE: 1720
ULTRA SCUFF DEFENSE/FLAT,MATTE
Custom Color Match
| CLRTN | CL | DL | LL |
| OZ | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 384th | 120 | 12 | 192 |
I love creating custom colors based off of antiques and inspiration from nature. I feel like this is a great way to make your home feel truly special.
I love how this room came out with just a little paint on the shelves and trim. It added a lot of cozy texture and dimension to the space, and brought more life to this awkward room that connects the front of the house to the kitchen. It’s a hallway that has always been hard to style, but in the future we hope to make big changes in this part of the house.
The Book Collection
The paint stole the show, but the book collection is a close second. I gathered up some books from the internet if you want to shop online to create your own look inspired by this. I have a couple of tips for when you are out thrifting and antiquing to start your own book collection as well:
- Check local thrift stores and antique stores often for affordable books. These places are updated daily with new products and they often have used books to dig through.
- Pick out a color pallet that you want to use and decide what range of colors you want to stick to. Whether it’s blacks, grays, and silvers or shades of green or like me sticking to whites, tans, beige, and creams.
- Check under book jackets because you may be surprised that the actual book cover is the color you are looking for and you can recycle the dust jackets.
- You can find thrifted books for cheap and also recover them with craft paper or paper that matches your color pallet.
- Check with family and friends to see if they have any used books they no longer want that fit your vibe.
- If you find an antique book that has seen better days, you can remove the cover to reveal the deconstructed pages for a very antique vibe.
Start your own book collection by checking out some online options below:
I hope these tips are helpful. I hope getting a glimpse of our current cozy neutral-inspired home library is inspirational.
