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autographedcatOne of the problems with a small apartment occupied by two bibliophiles is the matter of where to actually PUT all the books. There really just aren't that many good places to put bookcases, if one is to have any other furniture in the place.
When I was visiting![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
djbp and bardling last month, I got to admiring the wall mounted track shelving they had up for bookstorage in one of the upstairs rooms. It occurred to me that this could be the answer to our problem. Since it was wall mounted, I could simply have shelves cut to whatever length I wanted on that part of the wall, and since they didn't have to reach all the way to the floor, they could be placed above other furniture.
Last night, I dropped by home depot and picked up some supplies. Rails, brackets, and a 1x8 cut into five 27.5" pieces, which was the precise distance from the wall to the edge of the window in our computer room. This is the room where the guest bed is deployed when we have visitors, so we wanted to arrange the room in such a manner as to not require extensive shifting about to put the bed in place.
Things didn't go as smoothly as I'd have liked. I discovered rather quickly that the studs in the wall were made of metal, and as a result I made another trip to Home Depot to get some drywall-anchor screws so that the shelves could be mounted between the studs instead. Then I found that the particular drywall used here was so soft that if you weren't careful, when the anchor finally was fully caught it would start to burrow through the wall. There are, as a result, a few more holes in the wall than I had originally intended. But they are all in places where the shelves are, so they're not really noticeable. I'll get some plaster later and fix them up.
Anyway, I finally got it all up, and populated with books, and it looks rather nice in the end, so the frustration was ultimately worth it.
After completing the shelves, I called my Mom to thank her for the lovely St. Patrick's Day card. I was rather pleased to see that she sent a couple card, rather than just to me. I pointed out tokitanzi that I couldn't recall her ever doing that when I was with my ex, so that must mean she passed inspection. :)
We decided to spend the rest of the evening watching something silly and light to lift our spirits. In light of current events, I decided I wasn't really up for more M*A*S*H -- I didn't really want to see a war themed show, even one as solidly anti-war as that. So we watched the first two episodes on the season 1 DVD of Coupling, which was just what the doctor ordered. Extremely funny, and I went to bed in a much better mood than I would have otherwise.
When I was visiting
djbp and bardling last month, I got to admiring the wall mounted track shelving they had up for bookstorage in one of the upstairs rooms. It occurred to me that this could be the answer to our problem. Since it was wall mounted, I could simply have shelves cut to whatever length I wanted on that part of the wall, and since they didn't have to reach all the way to the floor, they could be placed above other furniture.Last night, I dropped by home depot and picked up some supplies. Rails, brackets, and a 1x8 cut into five 27.5" pieces, which was the precise distance from the wall to the edge of the window in our computer room. This is the room where the guest bed is deployed when we have visitors, so we wanted to arrange the room in such a manner as to not require extensive shifting about to put the bed in place.
Things didn't go as smoothly as I'd have liked. I discovered rather quickly that the studs in the wall were made of metal, and as a result I made another trip to Home Depot to get some drywall-anchor screws so that the shelves could be mounted between the studs instead. Then I found that the particular drywall used here was so soft that if you weren't careful, when the anchor finally was fully caught it would start to burrow through the wall. There are, as a result, a few more holes in the wall than I had originally intended. But they are all in places where the shelves are, so they're not really noticeable. I'll get some plaster later and fix them up.
Anyway, I finally got it all up, and populated with books, and it looks rather nice in the end, so the frustration was ultimately worth it.
After completing the shelves, I called my Mom to thank her for the lovely St. Patrick's Day card. I was rather pleased to see that she sent a couple card, rather than just to me. I pointed out to
kitanzi that I couldn't recall her ever doing that when I was with my ex, so that must mean she passed inspection. :)We decided to spend the rest of the evening watching something silly and light to lift our spirits. In light of current events, I decided I wasn't really up for more M*A*S*H -- I didn't really want to see a war themed show, even one as solidly anti-war as that. So we watched the first two episodes on the season 1 DVD of Coupling, which was just what the doctor ordered. Extremely funny, and I went to bed in a much better mood than I would have otherwise.
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no subject
Date: 2003-03-18 07:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-03-18 07:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-03-18 08:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-03-18 08:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-03-18 09:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-03-18 09:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-03-18 12:28 pm (UTC)Re:
Date: 2003-03-18 12:35 pm (UTC)Sadly, that's all the paperbacks. Gotta start workign on rebuilding the library (again *sigh*).
Love,
-R
no subject
Date: 2003-03-18 02:24 pm (UTC)to envision something capable of being moved back and forth, like track lighting. I have
always called this standard and bracket construction. Unless there's something I'm missing
that doesn't show in the picture?
Oh, and you might want to take pictures of your walls real soon. This type of bookcase
multiplies like kibble, and visible walls will soon be just a memory. :)
Ann Onynous
PS - Nice work!
no subject
Date: 2003-03-18 03:43 pm (UTC)I didn't actually know what it was properly called, so I just described it in a way that made sense to me. You put the brackets into a track which is mounted on the wall. Wall mounted track shelving. *grin*
Oh, and you might want to take pictures of your walls real soon. This type of bookcase multiplies like kibble, and visible walls will soon be just a memory. :)
Oh, I do hope so! I really, really do! :)
PS - Nice work!
Thanks!
Love,
-R
no subject
Date: 2003-03-18 02:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-03-18 03:16 pm (UTC)1 1x8x12 Pine board, $9.85
2 single track upright rails @4.97 ea. $9.94
10 8" brackets @1.32ea. $10.56
1 box of drywall anchors $6.25
$36.60 -- call it $40. This assumes you already have hammer, screwdriver, studfinder, and drill. (I have all of these things, of course, and could be presuaded to loan them, or even come over and help install them. Note that if you have real wood studs, one can use wood screws rather than drywall anchors.)
If you want to make longer shelves, that can be done, but the cost goes up a bit. I'd want a third bracket on a shelf that was, say, 48" long, and of course the wood is going to cost a bit more. You can also use wider shelves (they make 10 and 12" brackets) and if you want to use the shelves as utility shelves, then you'd probably want to get the doubleslotted ones, which are a bit more expensive.)
Love,
-R
no subject
Date: 2003-03-18 04:01 pm (UTC)are three feet long. Good for placement over furniture. Many of our brackets are 7 inches -
fine for paperbacks, but not quite enough for some hardcovers.
Ann O.
no subject
Date: 2003-03-18 04:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-03-18 03:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-03-20 07:46 pm (UTC)The guy I sold the condo to was a bookworm, so I included the shelving as part of the deal because I knew he'd appreciate it.