bookshelves – Edges Like Sea Glass

Monday marks my first anniversary in the little Franklin house. The time has flown by and I can’t believe how much has been done and how much is still left to do! To celebrate the survival of this past year, I want to show you some before and after pics. Let’s be honest, it’s no Better Homes & Gardens, but these pictures represent tons of work and love showered onto a little piece of land. I’m also thankful to Rob for all his help every step of the way, none of these transformations would have happened without his support. His time, patience, blood, and sweat have been poured into this place, and I really can’t adequately thank him enough for putting up with my insanity. So here’s what can happen in a year with limited funds and a lot of hard work…

The first project in the house was the bathroom, which was taken right down to the studs and rebuilt. Myrtle is excited. The Bathroom: Before & After

Needed more storage in the bathroom and less oak ugliness. Bathroom Vanity: Before & After

And we can’t forget our friends outdoors. After the sad loss of a bluebird family-to-be, something had to be done. Bluebird House: Before/After

The dining room is still a work in progress. I am planning to add a wall of pallet wood, put down wood floors, and get some more furniture in there. Dining Room: Before & Current Stage

My favorite part of this house is still the built-ins. They transformed a dull room into a library that makes my heart skip every time I pick out a book. Living Room: Before & After

I am so blessed by all the friends who came to visit in this first year. It’s been fun having people come through to say hi, and I am reminded that a house is not a home unless people fill it with love. Guest Room: Before & After

I’m still in the process of making the patio pretty. I removed the gravel next to the shed and am using the space to plant more herbs and small veggies for the kitchen garden. Patio: Before & Current Stage

The side garden has been quite the project because I’m trying to add more perennials, plus annuals I know the hummingbirds and butterflies will be attracted to. I’d also like to put some type of border on here, but I’m not sure what to use yet. Side Garden: Before & Current Stage

And as for repairs…these may not seem like a huge deal because they aren’t cosmetic, but let me tell you, I am so relieved to have these out of the way. HVAC: Before (circa 2000) & After (circa 2013)

Following a nasty storm, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise, the roof got a makeover. Roof: Before & After

House: Before

House: After

Kidding! Obviously not my house, but the esteemed Biltmore estate…something to aspire to, eh?

More to come tomorrow, the official one year anniversary!

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.

Before & After: One Year In The House

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