Appleby Road Library

There's nothing quite like curling up with a good book at the end of a busy day –  and the ritual's even better when you have a designated space to relax. When designed with dreamy evenings in mind, a home library can offer a calm and comfortable escape for the whole family.

Emily and team were recently honored to design such a space for a mother-daughter duo with packed schedules and an enduring love for literature. And the gorgeous home library we created allows the pair to enjoy each other's company while diving into fictional worlds.

The space is clearly a success in providing an at-home getaway for a mother-daughter pair – just housing enough shelving to store all the client's books was a small win in itself. But Emily says this room went deeper than just another design project, adding that it 'shaped [her] as a designer.' 

Designing a hobby-driven space for a woman and her daughter felt like a statement to Emily, who says that often, the design world still designates kitchens and laundry rooms as spaces for women. Meanwhile, dressing rooms and studies are more heavily associated with men.

'I think that there's an antiquated element to the way that our society thinks about homes and how we move through them.

What myself and my client really tried to do is think practically and realistically about women in our society today, and how they use their spaces – that they have a hand in designing and have a hand in paying for,' says Emily.

Emily says that designing the space proved personal for her client, as reading has remained a constant throughout every stage of her life.

'She looks at the wealth of her library as stories that have been a part of her whole life, and it's transported her in and out of difficult times in her own life. So I think that's where the wealth comes from – the knowledge, and the desire to continue to build that for her and for the next generation that she's raising,' says Emily.