The Library

 Click here for Library photo page

9/25/2004     The guest bathroom is still just that, a guest bathroom.  But the guest room itself has been moved two rooms up to the front of the house*.  We just didn't care for the fact that leaving the dining room took you to a bedroom.  A library seemed a classier choice and we felt non-overnight guests would feel more comfortable using a bathroom off the library than cutting through a guest room.  Anyway, the workload is light in this room.  The ceiling needs some skim coating and the archway through the French doors needs to be built on this side.  A window needs to be replaced and after that it's pretty much a simple royal blue paint job.
     Of course, it's a library so there will be shiny, white shelves built.
     And we'll need a day bed for times when the inn is overbooked.
     Piece of cake!  We'll be done in just a few days.  Maybe a week.
    Note from Chuck (5/24/2005): Just for laughs, scroll down and see how long that 'week' turned out to last.
      *Note from Chuck (5/28/2005): The guest room ended up being moved to the upper floor.  The front room became the parlor.
12/04/2004      Okay, so it's taking a bit longer than anticipated.
     The ceiling is now leveled and the added drywall mud sanded.  We've finally decided that a long shelf running just 15" below the ceiling of the entire room would be better than tons of shelving on each and every wall for the simple reason people will now be able to use the room.  It's only about 12X15' and floor-to-ceiling shelves would have cut that down to 9X12' with no open areas for furniture.  Also, there are doors on three of the walls and a window on another so space usage is a pretty big issue. 
     It would be nice to have two big recliners in there for reading and they could double as two extra places to sleep if we buy the right kind but that's way down the road.  We'll just have to wait and see.
12/09/2004      On 12/6 and 12/7, I was able to build the basic arch.  The wall wasn't plumb but I was able to do a few custom cuts to get it looking good.  Beth took care of the priming and painting all day yesterday so the next step will be to start building the window seat, storage cabinets and shelves on the North wall.
12/16/2004      Finally got started on building all that cabinetry for the North wall.  After taking a few basic measurements I hit my workshop and just started building them without actually planning anything out or writing anything down.  I know, I know, most carpenters tend to make things like diagrams and do calculations but that can be such a bother.  I'll just see how they turn out and if I botch the job I'll start using more traditional methods in the future.
12/18/2004     Got the first shelf unit in today.  I doubt this will be completed by the Christmas as we were hoping for but who knows?
12/19/2004     Whipped through framing out the right unit like it was nothing. 
     It's 0 degrees outside at the moment.  Very, very cold.
12/27/2004      The holidays are killing our progress but that was expected.
1/7/2005      Okay, we're slowly getting back on track.  The library is proving to be a bit of a challenge but only because the floor is so slanted.  This is from settling which most likely occurred 75 years ago.  The main issues we're having is the new shelving that we're building.  Once we had it in place we discovered a 1&3/4" difference in the floor level so it had to be dismantled and an adapter base had to be attached to the left unit.  It looks okay now.
     We also changed our minds on the paint color and have toned it down to a very grayish blue.
1/9/2005     The second shelf is in and the room is painted in a nice dusty Wedgwood blue tone.  The first blue was too electric.  Also, some of the books are finally out so we'll soon have a closet.  This house has almost no closets and only this one on the first floor..  It will be nice to have one.
1/17/2005      The main shelving units and window seat are in place, painted and completely usable.  The smaller book case is being started today.  This one will be used for knick knacks and paperbacks (give the dog a bone?).  We still have to finish getting all of the boxes emptied out so that the closet will be empty and we can do something about making it pretty.  We really need the closet space as we are now using our winter coats and the dining room chairs are our current coat racks.
1/23/2005     It looks so cool in there right now.  It really does.  I'm really a great finish carpenter and that's all there is to it.
1/29/2005   We brought a chest of drawers down from the landing and Christina spent some time priming them so that we can paint them in the room's colors and use them to house all of our art supplies.  We've flip-flopped and decided to use the other half of the room as an art studio.
    More snow in the forecast.
4/16/2005      Spring has arrived and so the window can now be installed. I'm starting it today and will hopefully finish it in a short amount of time.  Unless I find some hidden surprises I can't imagine it will be much more than a single day's project.
5/20/2005      "A short amount of time".
     Lord, why do I say things like that?  As big as my mouth is, it still isn't large enough to accommodate my foot as frequently as I seem to want to put it there.  I haven't been working on this window for a month due to other projects and getting set to have a roofer put a new layer of shingles on.  I just wanted to make that clear.
    There's an old saying in carpentry: "Measure twice, cut once."   I should have it tattooed on my forehead so that I begin each day being forced to read it.  Maybe that way I wouldn't get so cocky and end up having to cut and re-cut wood as often as I do.
     Anyway, I spent all day yesterday fabricating the doors for the custom shelving and the sill for the window.  Today I'll wrap it up (Open wide, Chuck!) and then I can get to the punch out list for the dining room.
5/24/2005      Finally!  The window is in and painted.  All that's left to do is for Beth to sew the curtains and we're finished with it.  Other than sanding the floors and refinishing them, the library is a done deal.
5/26/2005      Decisions, decisions...
     Do I rebuild the two doorways leading to the green room stairway and the bar so that they're straight and level?
     Or do I use the old beat up doors as templates and write it off to the house having 'character' and cut the doors so that they fit the current parallelogram apertures?
     The house has character.  Crooked doors are cool. 
     Level doors are for sterile retirement condominiums.
     See?  Some parts of a restoration project can be quite simple.
5/27/2005     'So simple'  Did I say that?  Did I actually say that?!
    Okay, I ruined one door and now have to try to get the second one in without mishap.
     By the way, if you ever buy a hollow core door and the salesperson says 2" can safely be shaved off, he means an inch off of each side and not two inches off one end.
     Just a side note....we bought lace shears for the new window and they look great.