Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Why "The Safari Room"?

Susan was wondering why I call it The Safari Room. Here's why:
This used to be the nursery. I love the mural, and since I wasn't putting bookcases on that wall, I decided to leave it there. The children on one end and the giraffe on the other were partly covered, but it's otherwise intact.

Here's what it looks like now:
I have a bunch of stuff in boxes under the desk, since I was using the room for storage until the shelves were done and the books in. This room is all nonfiction.

And this is the fourth wall:
That's a nice big closet that extends behind the wall on either side. Also full of boxes, an extra futon, some clothes. i.e. a lot of stuff I should just get rid of.

Next up, the hallway shelves.

6 comments:

  1. Wow. That is just... fantastic! I am amazed!

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  2. I love all of your bookshelves - they came out really nice. Great use of the wallspace in the kitchen. This room (safari) looks like it's nice and bright - all day? Bet it feels good to get your books unpacked.

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  3. Wow, what a great room! Bookshelves like that are my dream. And a mural to top it off...

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  4. My dream, too, Jen! I had shelves built in my old house (also by Pascal), and they just delighted my heart. Costwise, it's about the same as buying really good freestanding bookcases.

    Kris, that room is bright in the morning (the door to the deck faces east), but is not so much the rest of the day, with just that little south-facing window under the eaves. It's not dark, just not very bright.

    I am thinking of putting in a light tube or two (a skylight would make the room too hot in summer -- there's a limit to how safari-like I want it to be!).

    Susan, doesn't it make you wish your kids were little again so you could do up their rooms like that?

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  5. Yes but I will settle for the bookshelves! Who is this PASCAL? Will he come to California???

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  6. Pascal is French carpenter who's also a fabulous guitarist who used to play in my best friend's husband's band. But I was actually referred to him by my welder, who worked for one of the band's swing-dancing groupies -- who also happened to be Pascal's landlord. Follow that?

    I was talking to the welder about wanting bookcases made and he said, "Oh, you know Pascal, right? He's a pretty good carpenter, too." At the time, Pascal was just doing scutwork for contractors, didn't have a shop or much in the way of tools, so he built everything in my garage and bought the tools as he went along. I hired him mostly based on his reasonable bid and a lot of trust, since he had no references. My trust was well-placed, happily!

    Now he has a shop and makes a living doing cabinetmaking. He's probably not willing to take on any California jobs, but surely there are more guys out there like him.

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