It's also become the home for many, many, many books.
There are two other bookshelves not show here and while I dream of built-in floor to ceiling bookcases, that really wasn't much of a possibility.
See what I mean about lots of books?
I cleared it all out and there was LOTS and LOTS of chaos as a result.
And this is just a smidge of the chaos.
We covered that dinged-up, dented, scuffed up flat white paint with my new favorite, Revere Pewter.
It was an instant transformation.
After emptying that hutch of my china, I moved it myself... by sitting with my back against it and scooching it slowly into place. I didn't want to wait til the Rugged Mountain Man got home. I'm just like my mama.
I took my old tired Walmart bookcases, straight out of 1999, painted them white and re-backed them with beadboard. I also bought one more bargain shelf and painted and re-backed that one too.
But, I also wanted more book space.
The Rugged Mountain Man and I built this cubby unit with MDF.
I calculated the load it can handle and let's just say, we don't have to be worried about sagging.
We consolidated 6 mismatched bookshelves into four!
Now the "built-in" unit is bracketed to the wall for safety. Not that we have a mountain goat living here or anything.
I could barely contain my excitement when putting the books back into place. I was also very motivated to get our house back to some state of normalcy. However, I sorted the books and gave away duplicates. The reading levels go from bottom to top, easiest to most difficult. They are classified into genres.
Ironically, it was the Blossoms who were most excited about this. They loved that I found all their cookbooks and craft books and made an activity section.
"Now we can find our cookbooks easily!!"
We're loving how this room now truly functions as a library and dining room.
I'm definitely the ideas person in our marriage and I don't like to be told reasons why my ideas won't work and can't be done. The Rugged Mountain Man is deeply rooted in logic and reality. Nevertheless, I hatched the built-in look alike idea and we collaborated in the carrying out of this idea. He brought in thoughts on what kind of wood to use and how best to construct it, as well as budget constraints. We worked closely on the budget and actual construction. It was good for him to see that my ideas are cool and really look awesome in our house. It was good for me to see that his tips help make our project better, stronger and more durable. What a great marriage win for us!
Dominique
