Tag: Library

Moving Forward with the Built-in Bookshelves

After a minor freakout and a little time to regroup, the bookshelves are moving along. We don’t have the budget or inclination to scrap the whole thing and start over, so minor tweaks are going to have to go a long way toward fixing the areas I didn’t like.

The outer beveled edges of the doors have been cut down and the doors will be inset. The recessed toe kick is gone. The plywood grain still bugs me, but hopefully less so when there are books on the shelves. And if not? There’s always Plan B of making painted or wallpapered removable inserts to cover some of the wood. A few people have recommended painting out the whole thing, which honestly would probably look pretty amazing, but I’m giving the oak a shot first.

I think (I hope!) it will all come together as the project progresses further. There’s going to be a window seat in the center, and we’re installing a rolling library ladder that I’m really looking forward to seeing in the space. I’m excited about turning my attention toward putting the room back together and finally unpacking our dozens of boxes of books. They’ve been scattered throughout the second floor for months, lining the hallway and greeting us at the top of the stairs, so it’s going to be a big relief to have them out of there.

Onward!

April 16, 2014
Never Mind

I was trying to be positive yesterday and convince myself that things were fine, but I was gone almost all day and when I came back the doors had been attached. I thought we had agreed to hold off on them and I’d have some time to think about what to do. The wood grain is good enough I guess, and I appreciate the work that went into building everything, but the paneled doors combined with a toe kick? Very eighties, and I hate it.

I made a stupid mistake and I messed up. I didn’t go into details with the carpenter and I thought we were on the same page. I would say things like “I want it to look like it’s always been a part of the house” and to me, that encompassed everything from the quality of the wood to the inclusion of period (not 1980s) details. I’ve never worked on a custom project like this, and my inexperience is showing.

I don’t even know what to do at this point. Getting rid of the recessed toe kick would help immensely, and I think that can be remedied easily enough. The doors though? Learn to like them? Try to cut them down and accept the weird proportions that will result? I’m ready to give up. I cried over these stupid bookshelves yesterday, which is ridiculous. They are bookshelves — get over it, Nicole. I just feel dumb about the whole thing and I’m sick over this costing more to fix my rookie mistakes and lack of communication.

April 9, 2014
About All That Oak

I talked to the carpenter yesterday, and I’m feeling much better about the bookshelves. The worst of the bad grain is in the oak plywood, which I knew we were using for the backs and some of the parts that won’t be very visible. The facing pieces are solid oak, which looks much better.

The original baseboard along the wall was removed, and we’ll save it in the basement in case we ever need it somewhere else in the house. What’s up, 123-year-old plaster? Looking good!

There are holes cut out because we’re tucking an electrical outlet away on each side of the shelves. I don’t know if I’ll be adding lamps or a radio (or whatever else might need some electricity), but it’s nice to have the option. While everything is open, you can see some of the home’s insulation through the holes. All of the siding on the lower half of the house was replaced ten years ago, and when the previous owners did that, they took the opportunity to insulate inside the walls. The kitchen and back room are cantilevered and need some further insulation from below, but the rest of the house is covered.

The bottom of the bookshelves will have closed storage, and the doors are still up for debate. I was worried that they were going to look like dated 80s kitchen cabinets, and some of you confirmed my fears. We can cut the ones that have been made down (or pay more for new ones) and turn them into inset doors, but the carpenter is advising against it. With kids, the settling of the house, and humidity changes throughout the year, the doors can become misaligned easily. They can be planed down and realigned as things settle, but then the gaps become uneven. The current plan calls for raised panels along the bottom matching the home’s original entryway detailing, but with a top that overhangs the cabinet frame to be flush with the panels. Brandon and I think we’re OK with that, but we’ll take another look before the doors are ready to be attached when the construction is further along.

April 8, 2014
The Bookshelves Have Arrived

In pieces, anyway! Our carpenter will be back next week to start installing everything.

The vast sea of wood grain will be minimized once the shelves are filled with books, but oh, man. That’s a lot of new oak. I still think it’s the right thing to do here (as opposed to painted woodwork), but new oak is never as pretty as the old-growth stuff that’s in these old houses.

April 2, 2014
La La La La Lovely Library

Sometimes I can’t come up with a snappy title. Sing it to this.

Hey, I can finally share more pictures of the library! I took these photos last month, shortly after adding the new coffee/play table to the space. Then my computer died and the little laptop I bought to work on while traveling (since I was doing so much of that last year) wasn’t powerful enough to edit RAW photo files. Luckily, my old computer was still under warranty, and I’m now working on a brand new replacement. It took a while to get it, but it’s here and it’s zippy!

Anyway, wide angle shots.

Got your bearings? Good. Let’s get closer.

Eleanor and August each have toys in their rooms, but we also keep a fabric bin full of stuffed animals for both of them in the library. It eliminates some of the “mine!” dibs to have them on neutral ground. That’s why it’s so good to have the castle out there too.

Clearly I put the cutest toys on top.

The fiddle leaf fig is still doing well. We had a rough first couple of weeks, but now it’s thriving.

I’d wanted a Michelle Armas painting forever, and when the one I really wanted sold out before I could commit to buying it, I was disappointed. When I spotted that smaller pink and orange one, I bought it right away, even though I wasn’t sure where I’d put it. Turns out it was just what I needed for the library. I also picked up one of those cube sculpture things I featured here.

And look! Decorating with books, in a library! What will I think of next?

May 21, 2013
Christmas Decorations (Part 1: Upstairs)

I know — it’s a little late in the game to finally be sharing our Christmas decorations! The house was photographed this year for the Christmas issue of a magazine (to come out next year, obviously), so I was focused on getting the little details right. Today I’ll share the upstairs decorations, and tomorrow the living and dining rooms.

First, here’s Eleanor’s room.

She picked out her little white tree last year, and she was happy to see its return. She decorated it herself (she really likes those spiky glitter ornaments), and was adamant about there being a star on top. We didn’t have one, so I bought a glittery star-shaped ornament to use and all was well. I probably wouldn’t have draped her bed with garland, but we had the magazine shoot and I was feeling a little extra pressure to really Christmas it up. E likes it, because “now her bed looks like a sleigh.”

(And I stand by my love for all the weird deer in my house.)

August’s room was decorated too. The little Christmas tree is usually on top of his dresser, but his room is so small and hard to photograph that I moved it over to the table (temporarily) to fit it all in one shot with the wreath and reindeer in the window. It looks really nice there — it just wouldn’t survive very long!

The library has had the silver tree for the last few years — mostly because we already own it and I figure we might as well use it. We already had the birds, and the red yarn balls are new (from IKEA). I was slightly freaking out (oh, just slightly) about there needing to be something else up there, so I invited Kathryn over for a second opinion. She suggested the white feather wreaths from west elm, and I like how they tie in to the white feather birds on the tree.

The other side of the library has had those brass deer up all year. I guess that’s strange? I added some garland and ornaments, white Christmas lights, and my giant sequin disco ball ornament things.

I think of these as the ancillary decorations. The pink tree is the real star of the house, and no doubt why we were chosen for the magazine. I’ll share the downstairs photos tomorrow!

December 20, 2012