Library Pics

A while ago, we decided to take over one of the bedrooms as a our "book room" or "library." Yes, we own a lot of books. Marry an English grad student with a Poli Sci grad student and you get a whole of lots books (and two people who refuse to give up any books!). Anyways, we decided to embark on a rather large project: paint the larger bedroom walls and trim, and move all our books into the room, along with purchasing more bookcases and bookcase extensions from IKEA.
We don't have a lot of images of the complete before, but you can see the awful Pepto-pink color on the walls in these "during" pictures.

After several weekends of hard labor and few trips to IKEA, here's the result:


This room also houses our mini-guest bed (foam couch/mattress cheap from IKEA) and our exercise bike. I know it's cheaper and more convenient to have exercise equipment at home, but honestly, does anyone have a good place to put these (besides a basement)? It remains a major eyesore, in my mind, but, I digress.

Around the same time, we invested in a new laptop, which we both love. Tony's old desktop was full of nasty viruses and took up a lot of space; and my old laptop had been through several years of school, constant trips to libraries, airports, and houses, AND had been through a burglery (in which we got the laptop back). Seriously, it was time to give the old girl a retirement and get a new, faster, and sleeker laptop. We condensed from two computers to one, which hasn't been an issue (yet), and it's saves a ton of space.

Another eyesore in the room as the side closet. The sliding door to the closet is stuck in the doorframe, and no one has been able to get that darn door unstuck. So, anyone in the room stares straight into our storage, which, although organized, still unslightly.

Solution? A simple curtain, again from IKEA, hung the doorway that matches the window curtains. Simply disguises the boxes, and keep things looking nice and neat.

So there you have it! The library is complete, and we can proudly display our lovely book collection (without digging through piles on the floor). In the future, I would love to add things like a great wing chair in bright colors like this one, and a floor lamp for reading. But until then, our books are safe and sound. (Astrid Chair, Anthropologie)