Stage One: New Bookshelves
The two china hutches are in the living room after a few arduous hours. Back up a sec.... It actually began about noon with me and Peter removing everything from the white shelves plus the majority of the pictures from that wall. We will rehang the Asian corner after we catch our breath! As we have added books over the past twenty years, some sacrifice to organization had been made along the way. Today's book relocation allowed us to group together similar categories. It also gave us a chance to reassess ownership of severals books and collections.
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My Dad and I took two trucks to the Habitat ReStore in Athens for the pick up. We removed the glass front doors to ensure their safety. The glass is old and has a flow effect from them settling over time. Wrapped in towels, nestled in pillows, they made it home intact. So far, so good. Me and my klutzy tendencies may destroy them yet. For now the doors remain off as I load the shelves.
Arriving home, Peter and Lance came out to meet us and managed (with much strain and time outs to remove spider eggs!) to get the four individual pieces inside. I am so grateful for their strength and willingness. The old white shelves are now in Peter's den. I'll show him how to deconstruct them Saturday, health allowing. (Yes, my heart just couldn't take the strain and slipped out of sync again. Ugh!) The melamine shelving can be repurposed and used as bracketed wall shelving for his overstock of books. We have to buy mounting hardware though.
As for the new solid wood china hutches, they allow the same linear feet of shelf space without the versatility of adjustable shelves. Plus the continuous length across two units as opposed to four units means a few extra book inches. The bonus of having fixed shelves is that they are less likely to sag with age and weight. The upper hutch will house the collections and art books which can fit along with some fiction and maybe our drama section too. Until today I had no idea Lance had several hundred books on acting and plays from over 500 hundred years spanning the globe. There's even a translation of Sanskrit plays from two millennia ago!
Below, in each buffet section, are double drawers with triple doors below. The doors conceal a large space which will accommodate the largest of the art books lain sideways, the best position to store oversized books. There is also a recessed shelf about half way up for additional book storage. All in there are five levels of shelves behind glass and doors, which is the same number of shelves in the four individual 30 inch wide shelves we had.
As I consider how to best use the space, I am reminded of how drawers in natural history museums are utilized. Set with dividers, displays are placed in drawers which the public is invited to view. I have historical pieces along with collections which may find a space in these four shallow drawers. As a china hutch the drawers were subdivided with removable spacers. The silverware would have traditionally been placed in each area.
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| Drawers in a natural history museum inspire me. I also collect shells and the idea of dedicating a drawer or two excites me. I have an origami book which has a boxes section that I could use if the long dividers don't provide enough separation. |
Another thing I have longed for is a ledge. A setback of about 4-5 inches from the buffet front to the hutch is just the right space for family pictures or art. The doors though are the best part. First, the top section is behind glass doors. Less dusting! Second, the bottom section is behind wood doors. While I am a maximalist to the nth degree I appreciate a certain level of visual distinction between areas. The "privacy" afforded by closed doors is something I have wanted for a long time.
At this point I am too tired to even think about what art will be rehung or displayed inside or atop the shelves. It's been hours since my heart slipped out of rhythm so the exhaustion is setting in early.
