BH | Studio Saumur Narrow Arched Bookcase

The arch has framed books and china for centuries, and nowhere more naturally than in the Loire Valley around Saumur, where homes and wine cellars were carved straight into the soft white tuffeau stone, their doorways and niches rounded into arches. Georgian joiners in Britain did the same in wood, building arched alcoves into libraries and dining rooms. A freestanding arched case brings that piece of architecture into a room that was never built with one.

This slimmer case keeps the same tall, round-topped form, with a black ribbed shell and a pale natural wood interior. Five open tiers run from the arch down to the base, and the shelves adjust, so it can be arranged for paperbacks, records or a row of jugs, with each adjustable shelf rated to hold 77 lbs. It is made of engineered wood with a laminate finish and stands on short feet.

It fits the narrow wall beside a fireplace or between two windows, or the end of a hallway where a full bookcase would crowd the space. In a home office it holds reference books and boxes of papers; in a dining room, stacked plates and the good glasses; in a bathroom, rolled towels and soaps. A pair either side of a sofa or a bed makes a handsome frame, styled with art books, a bust or a vase of dried grasses.