I am decorating my study so have moved all the book shelves into the sitting room. The reason I keep my books stacked out of sight is that I am a bit private about who sees them – because you can tell a lot about a person from the books they read. I can see from the expression on people’s faces that makes me a bit strange.

But I may be about to change. The thing is, I am really enjoying sitting in the evening surrounded by interesting books, some of which I haven’t looked at for ages. Somehow, the fact that they are right there with me makes a difference, so, maybe it is time to bring books back into the mainstream of my home. Here is some inspiration if any of you like the idea of bringing books into your social space.

Books and a cosy place to read them – would possibly be a way to treat a wide corridor?

Books, a fire and a comfortable seat? All very lovely but not cosy enough for me.

This, on the other hand does float my boat – cosy and not too crisp.

Architect, Amanda Levete, is known for her cutting edge modern designs but here, in her own home, she chooses to live surrounded by objects, colour and books – my kind of girl.

This is an interesting way to treat the space between windows.

And using the alcoves on either side of a fireplace is sensible.

But, if you don’t have space – or if your books are stored on kindle – you could always fake it with this ‘library’ wall paper.