Skip the story and go straight to the pictures.
OK, here's the story:
Back two years ago, when we bought the place, we had intended to use the third-floor loft as a library. And we did, we hauled the books up there, we hauled most of the bookcases up there, we hauled lots and lots of bricks and boards to make bookshelves up there.
But with all of that, it really wasn't what we wanted. We wanted a library. With built-in bookshelves made out of dark wood. A place that didn't feel so "cluttered". We asked the realtor for recommendations of carpenters to do the work. None were available. Allison asked people at work for recommendations, and got only one. And he backed out after hearing how much we wanted to do.
So we waited and kept looking. We had reached the point where, having seen too many episodes of This Old House and The New Yankee Workshop, we were seriously thinking of doing the shelves ourselves.
However, we were saved from that folly by chance. Visiting the Boston Home show in March (at least, I think it was March), we saw a display by a company called Interior Dimensions (no, they don't have a Web Site). It wasn't the pieces that they had brought to the show that interested us, it was the photographs of some of their work. One of them showed a library, exactly the sort of thing that we wanted.
And so began the process of designing and building our library. Early in the process, we decided to add a built-in day bed to replace the one that would be removed from the room (anyone want a twelve year old day bed with trundel unit?). Additionally, we sat on the fence about leaving some of our old bookcases behind in the room, standing independently out on the floor.
Once we had a basic design down, the people from Interior Dimensions (still no Web site) came out to our place and measured the room. In the process of that, we found out a rather amazing thing: our loft floor and walls were perfectly flat and plumb. Anyone who has dealt with any cabinetry installation knows that is just never the case, there's always some variation.
Finally the day came in late July when we met with the designers from Interior Dimensions (no, there's still no Web site) to look over the plans and see the samples of the materials that would be used, a dark stained oak for all the faces and a cherry finish melamine with a fake wood grain for the interiors and the shelves. Everything looked good, except that they had added a pair of free standing bookcases to the job. We quickly removed those, and approved the rest of the plans. Things were all set for them to go to work when we got back from the Baltimore WorldCon.
The installation went well, though it took longer than they estimated (by one and a half days). Allison's mother came up with an old (really old, 1870's old) oriental rug that had been Allison's Grandfather's library and she (Allison's mother) thought it would look nice in ours. She was right. Everything looks wonderful, and, after a few minor fixes, it's done.
Now take a look at the pictures.
Click on the thumbnails to see the full images.
First, the room before the installation. At the point these pictures were taken, we were pulling our things out.
And now, after the installation and the return of all our things, including the books. Starting from the left-hand side . . . (the first image corresponds to the first "Before" picture).
The day bed.
On to the right-hand side of the room (the first image corresponds to the second "Before" picture).
Next, most of the room, including the rug.
Finally, some details of the work.
First, the moulding detail under the top of the cabinets:
Next, the moulding detail at the bottom of the cabinets:
And last, the end detail on the new baseboard:
