Well, the shelves actually, unstained and still in Jake's workshop, but not for long. Don't they look glorious? I always swore that if I were ever lucky enough to own a home it would have a dedicated library -- even if I had to sleep on the porch. This is going to be grand.
7 comments:
Are you sure you are not building a Hall of Mirrors?
It will be grand - How many linear feet of shelving are you going to end up with?
If I may be so presumptuous as to assume that Bill does not know the answer to Cindy's question.....
There will be approximately 55 linear feet of shelves that are 6 feet high and cover two 24 foot foot walls and one shorter one. Most of the shelves are 12 inches deep but there is one section on the short wall that will be 16 inches deep and have an angled display shelf.
I'm thinking of backing them with mirrors. Whadayathink Bill?:o)
-Stacy
If I may be so presumptuous to weigh in on the question Stacy asked:
Speaking as someone who just put in a bunch of shelves into a room to make a library (they were IKEA and not custom, but that's a niggling detail), most of my books were hardcovers, nine inches or more in height. I used the topmost shelf for paperback books and ran it the length of the shelves, for almost no wasted space. For most of my non-fiction books, the height of the books was 10" to 12" and for the art books (which I know Bill has), they were 12" to 14" in height, or higher.
Were I to put mirrors on the inside backs of my shelves, the ambient light they would reflect would be minimal, at best. The only way I'd get more out of it is by including some spot lighting (which is next on the list of upgrades) and really, with enough spot lighting, I don't need the mirrors at all.
That said, I think it would be a swell idea if you had shelving that wasn't completely covered with books, or that faced a window or two and you wanted the extra visual pop. But if Bill's Library is anything like my library (and he's seen mine), there won't be very much mirror showing when the books are all in place.
Can't wait to see the house, btw. I'm loving the pictures. Has Bill designed a crest or somesuch for Story Brook yet? I have an idea for a housewarming present...
Mark
Thank you Stacy. That was an awesome answer. Hmmm, assuming no double stacking in shelves that should be 5000-8000 books depending on the hardback/paperback ratio. Sweet. That will be a very grand room.
Mirrors work really well especially with objets d'art, but they are a pain to keep smudgefree. I have friends that blow glass and the mirrored backing is fantastic with art glass.
Unfortunately I have too many vampire friends to include so many mirrors.
I am SOOOOOO jealous! Between the three of us here we have enough books for a library, but every time you need something your searching thru boxes. Do you own a lot of hardcovers?
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