The Anatomy Of A Bookshelf: A Little Girl’s Dream Comes True

I just squealed a little bit as I sat down to write this post because I cannot even begin to explain how utterly excited I am to have built in bookshelves in my home! When I was a little girl we took family trips to Vermont several times a year. In Arlington there was a dirt lane called River Road that meandered beside the Battenkill River. My parents loved this road and I would complain endlessly about the 20 mph crawls down endless miles of the rocky pebbled lane every evening of our trip. Today as an adult I remember that dirt road so vividly, the twists and turns, the picturesque houses that lined the countryside with typically “Vermont” red barns in fields beside them. Norman Rockwell’s home and studio (a big red barn with large windows) was on this road. There was one farm house in particular that we used to drive past in the evening. They never had the curtains drawn and I was always struck by the glow that came from the library. Warmly stained wooden shelves that held volumes of books that looked lovingly worn from years of being reread. The view from that window inspired the dream that someday I would have a library in my home.

When I bought this house I was slightly disappointed by the fact that there was not a third bedroom to be turned into a library, but there were so many other great things about the place, that it seemed rather silly to not buy it because I couldn’t have a library. There is a very bare wall in the back of the living room that was just begging for something fabulous to be built. This is what my books have been doing since I moved in.

Notice the 8 unpacked boxes sitting forlornly next to the shelves that once sufficed in my apartment. The books in those boxes used to be piled on the floor under my windows, covered by floor length curtains that conveniently hid them.

I commissioned my ever talented boyfriend to build some shelves to fit the spot. He really outdid himself. I asked him to take pictures along the way. The images speak for themselves, so I present you with the anatomy of a bookshelf.

Once the shelves were installed, crown and floor molding was attached to make them fit with the flow of the room. One of the finishers at Rob’s shop primed them, but we ended up hand painting them after they were installed. I was going to be ambitious and paint the back of each opening the same color as the wall, but that thought soon left my head when I realized what a job it was to paint these things.

Every one of my books fit! I started to sweat a bit when I was getting close to filling up the shelves, but I still have a little bit of room left. About 25% of the books up there now haven’t been read yet, so it’s possible those will be headed for trade anyway. The bottom three shelves are covered by cabinet doors and hold all my DVDs and smutty paperbacks I’m slightly ashamed of.

I found some fun hardware at Anthropologie (on sale for $2.95 each). I am either going to pretend the pretty house on the knobs is my villa in Tuscany or my B&B in the English countryside. A girl can dream, right?

Here is the finished result! The wall paint has been touched up, doors and knobs attached, and my heart is about to burst. I shall never move! Not unless I can rip these out and take them with me! Seeing all the books up there makes me want to take a year off, park myself by the beach, and read for months on end. I am so thankful Rob was willing to do this for me and once again, I am so impressed by his talent and kindness through every neurotic moment I’ve had since moving into this place. Happy sigh. And many happy sighs to come.

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