We're currently trying to clear out the spare room/office so that the girls can have a room each.
The trouble is I've got a lot of books up there
We decided that the space to the left of the wood burner will become our new office type space with the computer (so when they're older we can monitor what they're on) and my reference books.
It's 1.6m wide so I decided to make some "substantial" shelves to go there. Some of the oak from my previous post got used on this, three big slabs of 250mm x 45mm timber. Not cheap but it should last a life time and it need to be big to take the weight of all the books!
It took a while on Saturday to fit, rout, sand, stain and oil them but they look pretty good when they're up and filled with books.
The top shelf is all carpentry, building and wood books.
The middle shelf is all gardening, self sufficiency, bushcraft and livestock books.
The bottom shelf is all cooking, preserving, smoking and curing books.
I think I need some more shelves!
This isn't even all of my reference books on these subjects as all the small sized ones are upstairs!
Anyone else have this problem with books?
Oh my goodness, I love your books. All three shelf titles appeal to me, I could spend many a fascinating hour in your new library! Yes, we have this problem with books as well, this office where I sit is lined with books on three walls, plus there are two more bookcases in the spare room, two in another spare room, one on the landing and two in the bathroom and one shelf over the stair well! I think our problem is greater than yours, but I don't see it as a problem really, just a great joy. (Oh, forgot the ones in the kitchen!) You see, the other half is one of the nation's bird experts so he's needed all these books for his career. As you do too of course. Lovely problem to have!
ReplyDeleteI must admit that this is not the total extent of our book collection. There is still two bookshelves in the spare room, two book shelves on the landing, a set of book shelves in the dinning room and a few boxes of books in the loft. (plus a load still at my mum and dads).
DeleteI do think I need to thin the numbers a little bit on a certain books and maybe get rid of some off these new shelves that are too basic for me.
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ReplyDeleteI think you've done a marvellous job with the shelves and oak my favourite of woods. I agree with Sue G that all those categories appeal to me to and yes we have the same issue. It would be lovely to have a permanent place for our laptop to live but it gets used on the dining table then cleared away. All I can say is that we have had to succumb to a Kindle for non practical books ie Fiction etc
ReplyDeleteI love the look of oak but after working with it for years and year sometimes it can be annoying!
DeleteHopefully I'll never succumb to a kindle! I need to hold and feel a book as I read it!
There is nothing better looking than a full bookshelf
ReplyDeleteI agree. I always worry when I go into someones house and can't see book!
DeleteYou can tell a lot about a person by what they read. When I was single and dating I always made a habit of looking at their book shelves. If I saw the self help psychobabble books, I made a beeline for the door.
DeleteOn a building site a boast I hear quite often is "I haven't read a book since I left school." I always feel a little down for those people as they don't know what they're missing out on!
DeleteOur books are all over the place here and are all non fiction. I hope to have a special place for them eventually, maybe in the lounge / music room / quiet room, like an old fashioned Victorian study environment. Perhaps.... one day.... !
ReplyDeleteSounds lovely vera , I envisage lots of old maps on the wall dark wood furniture and brass lights .....beautiful
DeleteI'd love to have al libary or an office but it's not going to happen any time soon! We need the space for other things a the moment (little ones). I do also love maps on the wall!
DeleteWe have lots of books too despite rehoming a lot when we moved to the oxfam book shop
ReplyDeleteWe have bookshelves all over the house a bit like Sue G.
I could fill another house with ours I'm sure!
DeleteIt's not a problem .... in our type of lifestyle it's good to have books all around you to answer questions, to pour over on a cold Winter's night and as an added bonus they insulate the walls of the house that's why we have books in every room .... honest ;-)
ReplyDeleteNow you have curtains like mine and shelves like mine, we would feel very at home in each others houses!!
It's handy to have the info there when I need it and I've got a lot fo boos on specialist subjecs like grafting wheere the information is otherwise hard to come by.
DeleteI think we probably would feel at home at each others place, although I'm not sure what you'd think when you got mobbed by a two years old and a 4 month old! I bet your place is much quieter!
Yes, most of mine are in the basement as it is the only space we have for them.
ReplyDeleteAh the American basement! It must be great to have that extra space. I wish we built them more over here. Most people that have them in the UK have terrible trouble with damp.
DeleteNature abhors a vacuum, the basement inevitably gets filled with all of life's junk. It is a good place to instal things like the boiler, the washer, dryer freezer and all the kitchen stuff you don't use on a regular basis. Outdoor furniture gets parked there in winter as well. Ours is not bad on moisture though I have a 25 gallon sump that in the spring time will fill up every three minutes and the two staged pumps will run almost constantly for a month. I'll have to remember to do a post on it when the time comes.
DeleteThat still sounds like a good space to me! My outdoor funiture stays outdoors so rarely lasts very long and the boiler is in the pantry taking up most of the room in there and the freezer is in the dining room! I'd love to have a cellar!
DeleteGreat work Kev.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sharon!
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