before
after
full of us
Aw, thanks for all the sweet library love! There were so many lovely questions in the comments that came up over and over again, I hope you don't mind me using this space to answer them today:
The trim - I neglected to mention - is all Yolo's Air .01, which is the same trim throughout the house and on all the doors.
The READ print next to the pussy willows and below the sun is by Portlander Eric Hou. You can find it in this post from last winter.
The print of the girl drawing (above the small drawing table) is a vintage Home Arts magazine I framed.
The sun and (one puppet!) were made by local pupeteer Nance Parker of Shoestring Theater.
The rest of the puppets I made with Calvin a very long time ago. You can find out more about them in this post from 2007. (And they're standing up with the support of empty wine bottles!)
The Nature prints on the wall above the map are from Imagine Childhood (and that blank space in the middle is for the leaf print which, apparently, is hiding in a box).
The fiber garlands hanging from the window are a project from Handmade Home.
Some of you noticed the absence of radiators and heating vents. There is one (teeny tiny one) for forced hot air, but we hope to heat this area with a woodstove in the adjacent living room.
The books are organized loosely by subject: Poetry, Chapter Books, Picture Books, Science & Nature, People & History, Health & Wellness, Art, Craft & Music and so on and so forth. Ezra would like to further categorize by author's last name. I say go for it, kid.
The long set of bookshelves are indeed old barn boards, held up with wooden milk crates (from my grandfather's farm!). We have a longterm goal of more permanent and larger shelving in here, but for now, this will do just fine.
The ceilings were like this when we moved in, and had already been plastered so I don't have advice or knowledge about how to do that. There's another room (my temporary studio/future bedroom) where we hope to do this someday in the future.
Thank you for all the lighting advice! The one I linked to yesterday, does indeed, appear to be too small for this room so I'm thinking about a few other options.
The library was the first room we 'finished' and I'm so glad I took the time to do it first. It's been so wonderful for the children to have a quiet space to go into while chaos is happening everywhere else in the house. And the feeling of having one room "done" for this Mama is so encouraging. When I start to see the primer on the trim, or get frustrated that I still don't have a bath, or just plain tired...walking into this room and closing the door for a moment is a peaceful little slice of heaven. And playing a slow game of checkers with my little loves at this table in those comfy chairs? Sweet, sweet bliss.
