An update to the leisurely upgrade of our step-down living room into a library space. Phase Three has begun. The bookcases have arrived!
The four cases arrived on Saturday, May 25. The cabinet maker who made them said he was sure they’d be delivered by 1:30 pm that day. None of us was ready for the volume of holiday weekend traffic on Saturday, which oozed northward at the speed of sludge. I saw this firsthand as I drove down to Martinez to pick up a friend; NB 101 was a parking lot at 12:30, and there was no way a truck coming from San Francisco would be at our house by 1:30. Sure enough, when our friend and I got home at 4:30, Spouse informed us that the cases had beaten us by about half an hour.
Here’s the “before” shot of the room for reference
The figurine, craft cart and rolls of paper have been relocated. I’d originally planned to put one of the new cases along the north wall but on reconsideration we’ve decided all four will go along this one. Spouse plans to cut out a rectangle from the bottom of the third from the left, so that the heat register is not blocked.
The potential “after” shot.
The horizontal piece across the top, which Spouse calls a cleat, is so that he can bolt the cases without risking splintering the backs.
Wow, shiny.
Bookcases aren’t bookcases without shelves.
And, here are the shelves
Anyone who has assembled bookcases probably recognizes these. I don’t know what the name for them is (brackets, maybe?) but they hold up the shelves.
Four of these go into the drilled holes along the walls (at the same height) to hold the shelf.
Just like this.
Arranging the various heights of the shelves will be my job. Shelving the books will also be my job. Figuring out where the lamps go, and making the final decisions on the Chair Question, are my jobs too.
Speaking of books, the two on the coffee table, left to right, are A Fire Story, by Brian Fies, and Ten Thousand Doors of January, by Alix E. Harrow, and it is an advanced reader copy. You can preorder it here.