Amazing Bookshelf

This is one of the most unique bookshelves I've ever seen with the books brilliantly nestled under each stair riser.  It might be a look that is hard to pull off in many traditional homes, but I can think of some tight Manhattan spaces that could use this ingenuity. 

 

Front of the stairs from the bottom of the staircase / straight down from above

from NeuBlack

Coffee Table Books

Coffee table books used to equal outdated, stuffy and dust allergies.  But just recently, I was snooping around a very well-appointed apartment and was won over by the colorful, modern collection of these sizable tomes.  Stacked neatly on the floor next to the sofa, under the glass coffee table and as a makeshift coffee table themselves, the books made the room (note to self: there weren't any volumes actually on the table).  Some of my favorites: 

Tom Ford / Yves Saint Laurent Style

Michael S. Smith, Elements of Style / Slim Aarons, Once Upon A Time

Avedon Fashion, 1944-2000 / The Fashion Book

Dior / Vanity Fair Portraits

Albert Seba's Cabinet of Natural Curiosities / The Little Dictionary of Fashion

Lachapelle, Artists & Prostitutes / Atlas of Human Anatomy and Surgery

Tony Duquette / Tim Walker, Pictures

A Privileged Life: Celebrating Wasp Style / Vogue Living: Houses, Gardens, People