The Library: From Start to Finish

I can't believe I'm actually writing about our library being COMPLETE (almost)!!! When we first moved into this house, the giant empty room in the front was one of the reasons I signed my name on those mortgage papers because right when we walked in the door our Realtor said, "now how's this for a library huh??" Aaaaand the fact that it still had room for a pool table was enough to make Jason happy.

Home of the future library! This is what it looked like for about 4 months

It started with us finding a pool table and a couch, and for about four months, my books were in boxes piled against the wall. It was frustrating because I would think about re-reading a Harry Potter or Jane Austen and then realize that all of my precious books were stowed away. Jason started tackling the design of the library around mid-September by being a typical engineer:

show off

I mean I'm not going to lie, I was impressed. He's an electrical engineer and just decided to learn Autodesk CAD for fun but for all you DIYers with dreams of building bookshelves, you don't have to do this step, it's just fancier this way. So after doing all the maths he needed, the building started.

wait for it.....

TADA! And we had one, unpainted bookshelf for about a month

While he slowly kept building, I slowly followed by painting. Painting was a whole other animal. We decided to paint the entire room a nice neutral and calming color so we chose Sherman Williams Aloof Gray. LOVED how it turned out. For the trim and also the color of the bookcases we chose Behr Ivory Palace. Each shelf took several coats of wood fill, sanding, painting, sanding, more painting, then a matte polyurethane to finish it off.

then there were two

The days started getting colder and Christmas was fast approaching. We knew that we wouldn't be completely done by Christmas but we wanted to be nearly done so we worked through the cold. Two weeks before Christmas saw me out there in 30 degree weather shivering while listening to radio holiday stations, breaking every ten mins or so to go stand in front of the small space heater we had set up. We had to prevail though!!!

you have no idea how ecstatic we were at this point (sorry for the poor quality pic)

pretty close huh?

By the holidays we had all the bookshelves done except the last one on the right side and the overhanging unit. Jason kept putting that one off because I think both of us were a little terrified to make a wooden shelf hang over our heads while we read but he eventually buckled down and drew out his plans.

adding the final touches

THOSE PANTS AGAIN

After assembling everything, I spent the next morning populating all of the new bookshelves and was actually pretty pleased to find that I had more space for MORE books!! bwahahahaha!!! We finally received the custom frame we had ordered for the crowning jewel of the library, the Pride & Prejudice print that I bought about three years ago, pining for the day I would have a library to put it in. Get this thing:

at first glance it's not much...

but then you get closer and realize...WHAT

IT'S THE ENTIRE TEXT ON A SINGLE POSTER. SHUT THE FRONT DOOR

Yeah I know, I was pretty much blown away when I saw it. It's from this awesome company called Lithographs and I had to control myself to not buy every single poster/shirt/bag they have on their site. Bibliophiles, check it out. Now for the other library piece that finally gets a home was my Stitch (yep as in Lilo & Stitch) painting that Jason had given to me as an anniversary gift about six years ago. I remember when he gave it to me he said it would be the perfect piece for a library and I really could not agree more:

OMG dying of cuteness overload

When I saw everything up, books in the shelves and pictures on the wall, my heart literally stopped. Ok well maybe palpitated a little bit, but some emotional stirring happened because I think we've been waiting for this day for so long that it's hard to believe it's finally here. There are some final touches that still need to be done that I'm hoping to get to this year. Pool table re-felting (get rid of that awful bar green), curtains for the huge window, recessed lighting and eventually I want to get a big library chair to put on the other side of the couch but I have time for those things. IT'S DONE

think we could fit a grand piano in here somewhere?

featuring the coffee table Jason built, more on this in another entry

And as we speak, my own personal Mr. Darcy has fallen asleep in the newly completed fruits of our labor and I suppose I'll let him rest....FOR NOW! mwahahaha!!

Some closing notes to all your DIYers that are thinking that this is beyond your grasp. Don't be crazy, it's not. This room was imagined, designed, and built by an Electrical Engineer and a Biologist. If you've got some patience, a will to make beautiful things to hold books, and some power tools, you can do it too! Email me if you want more specific deets and I'll help you out to the best of my ability! All you Belle's out there, your libraries are within reach! (now where's my sliding ladder?!)