The Library
in
This Old New House

		The west and north walls			The fireplace on the east wall.			Looking southeast toward the patio.
		This is the west wall of the library showing the 2" foam insulation I put up to dampen noise from the shop on the other side of part of the wall.			This view shows the drywall up on the same walls as in the first picture above.			This view shows the wall that was extended by 18" to enlarge the pantry.
		This is the northwest corner of the library (as in #1 and #5 above) showing the process of taping and mudding.			The east wall (same as #2 above) painted either side of the fireplace.			This view shows the hall with the 18" extension on the left, all painted.
		This is the same northwest corner of the library (as in #1, #5, and #7 above) showing painting done and furniture group in place.			This is a view to the southwest showing the 18" bumpout (as in #6 and #9 above) with paint and furniture.

Great progress! The room is done except for carpet and trim. I finally finished up the drywall taping around the first of February (2005) and the sanding about the 10^th. The painting got all done for Valentine's Day, and Linda and I spent the day moving tools out, mopping the floor (still white-trash terrazzo), arranging and rearranging furniture. The paint is the same Pale Chamois as in the foyer.

This was originally going to be the media room, but I came to realize that not only was the room not really suited in layout for home theater, but wasn't truly big enough, either, so we revisited that idea and have decided to make it a library instead.

To recap, originally this room had an inexpensive paneling throughout. Figuring it would be easy to just take it all off and then repair and paint, I began, only to find that instead of drywall there was Celotex™ underneath it. The paneling was original to the house. That meant I had to strip everything down to the studs and re-rock the whole room. That wasn't so bad, because I was able to take care of some wiring issues more easily, and since I was expanding the pantry I would be able to seamlessly blend the new construction into the old.

Although there were elements of greater complexity in the kitchen and bathroom, this room needed the most work from the wall covering standpoint (I really dislike drywall work), even though the end result is simply a room with walls.

Well, update #1—progress to report. Carpet got installed in October, 2005. Slowly over the next 20 months we assembled chairs, bookcases, and a new desk, and had the room fairly well configured insofar as arrangement and placement of pieces was concerned. We've settled in with it being a very comfortable room.

		View of the transition from the new carpet to tile in the hall.			Long view of the library toward the hall.

Update 2007! There is even greater progress to report. This room is essentially done. I'll confess to one final detail needed—baseboard—but everything else is finished. I tackled the door casings in early July, and then with the help of our daughter and son-in-law, we tackled the crown and the valence over the sliding glass door.

		The south wall is the boundary between the library and kitchen and also has the sliding glass door to the patio.			Here is a detail of the valence.			Detail of the crown on one of the two outside corners in the room.
		Detail of door casing and crown on archway to kitchen. Note the reeded columns and rosettes.			Looking down the hall to the foyer.

There's a desk between the fireplace and the slider, and it's Linda's favorite place to write letters and do Sudoku. The valence (and the one in the dining area) were salvaged from a house our realtor neighbor had listed, and our daughter picked a new fabric and re-upholstered it.

The view down the hall captures the casings on the closet (left), bathroom (right), and the arch to the foyer. The crown really makes the space look alive, not only in the hall, but in the whole room, which now looks complete. Linda now spends perhaps 75% of her day in this room.

Update 2016! Well, a recent visit from our daughter, son-in-law, and grands (the same group that helped with the crown molding) featured some consolidation of acquisitions and a rearrangement of same yielding an even more habitable space. First, acquisitions:

• Chippendale style desk with glass top obtained from a used office equipment supplier. Bride uses it for her computer.
• Small bookcase, since relocated to one of the bedrooms.
• Secretary and hutch built by my father, relocated from Mom’s condo after she passed (27 Dec 2014).
• Candle stand, built by my father. Similar provenance to secretary.
• Assorted occasional tables—one from Linda’s mother, one antique Linda bought, one unknown, but possibly from my grandmother.
• Sailmaker’s bench, built by my father. He copied the one I’d built back in the ’60s, but added significant carvings to it, which I can’t do. On the top is rendered a full rigged ship.
• Five upholstered chairs obtained from aforementioned used office supply. $40 each, used in a conference room in a lawyer’s office.
• Four barrister bookcases, two 3 shelf, one 4 shelf, and one 5 shelf, rearranged to accommodate the secretary and to provide a more pleasing setting.

I’ll get some pictures up soon.

Last updated: 06 July 2016