If you are a follower of this blog you know that
I lost my dear dad, unexpectedly, in February of this year. What you don’t know
is that he passed away in the middle of panting and construction projects on my home. What
grieves me mightily in all of this is that he never got to see this wonderful
project completed. Dad was in on the planning stages from the very beginning.
We discussed ideas, we went over pictures on Pinterest, and I sent him sketches
of what I wanted. He was as excited as I was, and bought me the fireplace
insert for Christmas. I shared pictures of early stages of construction with
him, but he never got to see the end result.
Because of all this, I would like to share this project with you. These
additions were constructed in the downstairs great room, my “chill zone,” where
I go to relax and watch baseball. (In thinking about it, the words “relax” and
“baseball” don’t really go together, but I digress…)
I was interested in having a fireplace, because I love them (if I had my way I
would have a fireplace in every room), and I needed a large bookcase to hold
all my books. (If you are a bibliophile like I am, then you know that this
doesn’t begin to hold all of my books, again, digressing…)
Because my husband and I spent 20 years of our
life together working in rare book rooms in libraries around the world, I
wanted to replicate that in my own home, and thus I needed a ladder. Here is
the end result, and I absolutely love it!
This bookcase holds a lot of history, literally and figuratively.
Many of Jim’s rare books
are contained here, his collection of dictionaries, my collection of Nancy Drew
books.
My collection of mystery cookbooks are here. I don't use them mind, and would never kill anyone intentionally with my cooking, but I do know how (evil grin).
Sherlock has his own space.
There is even room (well, I made room) for a bit of whimsy in this “Haunted Typewriter” that types out H E L P M E when anyone passes.
My dad has his own little shelf where his textbooks from Yale
are kept.
Walking Across Egypt was one of my mother’s favorite books. It is displayed on a stand on
the table.
I LOVE dictionaries! Only a part of them fit here.
Sitting at this library table makes me feel as though my family surrounds me
with their love. Dad always questioned my need for both lighted shelves and a ladder (and boy are they
expensive!); Jim would have found it pure folly. True, I’m tall enough to reach
the books on the top shelf, but it is an ornament that I had to have.
While I eventually intend to paint and decoupage
the top of the table with mementos from my life and travels relating to
literature, I currently enjoy breakfast in this warm, bright, and wonderful
spot. Come join me!
Stay tuned for the fireplace addition in a future post.
As an aside, the builder on this project is the same wonderful
man who built my deck. You can read about that here.
