I really like sage or coffee browns for a library.

We have two rooms next to each other that are separated by French doors. They face west and get nice afternoon sun. One room is going to be a library with built in shelves and the other room will hold a piano and maybe some big comfy chairs. I painted both rooms "Concord Ivory" by Benjamin Moore which is a nice rich yellow, and the trim, (future) bookcases, and ceilings are "Lancaster Whitewash" also by BM. I really love the way it looks, and I was thinking of introducing red as well in the drapes and floor coverings.

Concord Ivory is pretty. It's in the palette of yellows that generally appeals to me. I was also thinking of Benjamin Moore's Mint Chocolate Chip or Central Park from the greens.

Agh! It's only paint, easy enough to change if I hate it. I don't know why I'm so indecisive about this!

We have a library. We placed textured wallpaper on the bottom of the chairrail and painted it white and then placed a dark green on top. Two walls are built in bookcases and a third is a bay window. I just love the way the room turned out. We placed a nice leather armchair in it and it is perfect. The white makes the room a bit brighter so that the dark green isn't "too" dark. Everyone just loves the room.
I think browns and dark greens are just "library/study" colors. I don't know why, I just have always felt that way.
Silly thing is that it is my favorite room however I spend the least amount of time in it. My life is just too hectic right now to be able to sit down and read.
sighhh, oh well at least it looks impressive!!
-renee

Our library is painted coral bell (kind of a deep pink almost rasberry color) with a glazing over it that's just a little darker than the coralbell. The ceiling is butternut (yellow)
All the trim and the bookcases are white. this room has one window in it that doesn't get much sun thru it.

Hey, I hadn't thought of glaze. That might take care of the light/dark tug of war in my head. Like scryn (who lives not too far from me, I think; Western NY?), I think of dark green or dark red or deep leather brown as "library colors," but for that room and that light I keep veering off to lighter colors, only to be drawn back to darker greens and golds. But if I did a brightish yellow with a darker caramel glaze, that might give me a little of both.

Hmmm......

yup, I live in Rochester!
-renee

The problem I had with our library was it was dark. The floor to ceiling bookcase covered the entire wall and was stained dark. It made the room look smaller than it should have been and it was depressing.
It also opened up to a bathroom and the music room so the colors had to be something I could use with some flexiblity in all three.

I just got back from the Benjamin Moore display and I saw your coral bell. Pretty color! A little too pink for my purposes, but it's a good color. I'll keep the chip somewhere for the future.

I think I'm going to go with a deep yellow with white white trim.

Maybe.

I am in love with BM Richmond Gold and Greenfield Pumpkin! Perfect for any room...lol...I have RG in my DR and am using GP as trim outside (was going to use it in the DR but went with RG instead)....love it....lol....

Don't be afraid to go with the dark green for your library! When we gave our family room a makeover everyone told us that dark green would make the room look small again. We had just gotten rid of the dark brown paneling and trim that made the room look very dated. Anyway, we ignored everyones comments and painted the walls a deep green and painted out all the wood work an off-white color. Its one of our favorite rooms now and all our friends and family find it cozy and a great place to hang out and have a conversation! Good Luck

I really like the dark green, and I think it might have been a very good choice, but that particular room gets some beautiful sunlight in the summer (and the winter, too, I guess, but we haven't lived here long enough to know!), and I want to play that up. A nice rich yellow, edging towards brown but still firmly in the yellows; I think that'll be the trick!

And then, for the soffit over the bay window, I will ask my artist friend to paint something.

A friend of mine has a beautiful library/parlor at the front of their house that I just love. It is a rich gold with soft ivory trim. Cozy and warm without being too dark. But, I love deep green and red for a library also.

We just recently completed our library (well, mostly!). We used Sherwin Williams Halcyon Green with Pure White trim and couldn't be happier. It's a medium green without a yellowish cast. The room has southwestern exposure. The floors are vintage pine with a pumpkin hue. The bookcases are all vintage dark oak and mahoghany, sofa is cordovan leather and DH has a wonderful collection of early maps that pick up the wall color in their hand coloring. It's a wonderful, restful room that is equally comfortable for men and women. Best of luck with your selection.

We purchased a home with a library just like the one you are describing, right down to the south facing window.

The house came in light yellow and I have haven't painted yet, I'm still thinking of colors.

So you can see a library like yours in yellow, just scroll down the page it has french doors into it, and a desk with a black chair at the window.

Yellow is not the right color for a library, I'll put in a hw floor too. I leaning toward a light grayish green.

Here is a link that might be useful: house pics

Whatever color you choose,,keep it light. I had an old house in Massachusetts with a library that had beutiful hand planed black oak bookshelves, crown moldings, wainscoating, pocket doors and ceiling beams. They then painted the remaining portion of the walls a dark hunter green. It looked elegant from the hallway, but even with two chandaleers with 5- 60 watt lamps each, you still needed a flashlight to read a book at night.

My mother had a superb eye for colors and she had an enormous library that faced south, with a wall of windows. The walls/ceilings an unremarkable BM off-white, floors natural finish oak, and after many color experiments the (floor-to-ceiling) built-in bookshelves were painted a dark BM blue-green. This sounds so simple but that particular green is fabulous with the colors on the spines of books. It is strong and dark enough to make a nice pattern; the shade looks lovely with dust jackets (makes them look warm somehow) and handles the large, irregular, amount of white that dj have with aplomb. And all the while, for some reason, it seems "neutral", not clashing with other colors in the room. I have used this color in libraries a couple of times, with great success. I can get the numbers for you if you want.

Molly~

vjrnts--You seem to be leaning towards rich yellows in your posts, so this should be the way you go, as it sounds as though you have really made your decision :)

But might I suggest you try looking at paints that work with light, since your room interacts with it so much and changes considerably as the day goes by? There are full spectrum paints from Ellen Kennon, which just have to be seen on the walls to understand--they are pricey, but worth it. I would suggest Citrine for your room, but many of them may work for you.

http://www.ellenkennon.com

Then there is a paint line called Devine that interacts with light in a wonderful way. I would recommend the Devine Gold or Devine Straw in the "Natural Blondes" palette. You can read about the Devine Color paints at the link below and pick up or order packets of color samples to watch on your wall before making your choice.

I think you would be very happy with either of these paint lines. Good luck with your color choices.

Here is a link that might be useful: Devine Color

Molly, I hadn't thought about the colors of the shelves themselves, because right now we're stuck with old, cheap portable melamine-and-particleboard shelves. But someday, I'm going to replace those with carpenter-built shelves, and I'll remember this. I'd like those numbers, thanks. I'm putting together a file of colors and suggestions.

Mongon, I thought of EK paints for just that reason; the light in that room is just beautiful. (At least in the summer; we bought the house at the end of May and moved in in August!) EK paints are blended from BM tints, is that right? I should ask at our very local hardware store that has a wonderful BM paint department. I'm tempted; it's a small room, and I think I could get two coats out of one gallon, so that makes it not too ridiculously pricey!

Thanks to everyone who expressed an opinion. I really like this forum.

I have been thinking of Concord Ivory for my kitch/dr (indeed a search is how I got here). If you are looking for a brownish yellow you might try BMs Chesterfield Buff, I like it a lot having lived with a test splotch for a few weeks but its a bit dark for my tiny house, it does look a bit spicey pumkiny on the test swatch under the cabinet lights - but its a beautiful color.
Or...many many people seem love SW's Blonde which I test swatched and still don't understand how they call it Blonde - it looks tan/brown to me but everyone says once it up in a room its a beautiful dark yellow?? Look in the thread "nice yellow for Kitch and DR and you'll see some pictures.
So.....the Concord Ivory...I sent Blackcat an email
Mary

vrjnts,

You can paint the melamine! I'll look in my paint locker for the number of the green color that looks so fab with books.

Also, EK paints are not BM, they are made with ICI Dulux carrier and pigments. Donald Kaufman used to BM and now is Pratt and Lambert, though last time I checked with Color FACtory people they said ti was possible to have them made up with BM products.

Molly~

Mary, did you get my e-mail?

I took a pic of our music room. It's in the "House and Yard" album. It's kind of gloomy today, and the color looks a bit lighter than it actually is. Like I said, the trim and bookcases will be the same color as the ceiling. Right now the floors are pretty light, but when we refinish them, I think I want them as dark as the ceiling fan.

Here is a link that might be useful: Library/Music Room color

I like yellow in a library if the bookshelves are a dark color..... Of course that could be just because I chose that color :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Study pics

I vote for a gold, not quite yellow, but gold. We just painted our office at work a very pale gold with a mid-gold on one wall. I would go with a middle tint of a good warm gold.

What is on the floor? Is it wood? Carpeting?
Reading all the things you like/don't want, I thought 'what about a good, medium-dark, complicated/muddy gray?' Something with blue and green in it? A fantastic and ever-changing (with the light) backdrop to whatever you decorate with (rich yellow window treatment or upholstry?). You could even go a bit more buttery on the trim color.

The floor is worn hardwood, white oak I think, and I intend to put down an area rug to protect the floor from further damage until we can refinish.

I like gray, and actually, thinking of a darkish gray, maybe color-washed over a green or blue.... With the right lighting and window treatments and paint for the shelves, that might be really cool.

Hmmm.....

I painted our library BM Abingdon Putty. It's a great color, not beige, not gold and has a hint of green to it. Our built-in bookcases are walnut and there is a walnut mantel and a brick fireplace with a black slate surround. I really like the putty paint color with the wood, and the backs of the bookshelves I painted Lancaster white. We have 2 sets of french doors into the library plus a very large window - although the room is probably 14 x 14. The area rug is burgundy and black with a lot of other colors in it. I had tried about 9 paint samples before going with the Abingdon putty. Friends told me to paint it red and I just couldn't see it being red. I thought it would take away from the beautiful walnut wood. Friends have also said that I should make window treatments but I would really hate to cover any of the beautiful moldings, etc., but since we don't need the privacy I've kept the windows bare.