In my library (formerly the formal dining room), I have a closet. It's the only closet downstairs.
I'm not sure what it's original purpose was; it's right beside the fireplace and has a door that is obviously a replacement; it's been built on and added to.
At the moment, I have odds and ends in this closet, none of which actually need to stay in there at all. Soon, I will be adding my glass-fronted oak bookcase to the library, which will house my great-grandmother's dishes along with many books. And the only other things inside the closet that are actually good, useful items are the table leaves. Everything else inside the closet could be stored somewhere else. (In fact, the table leaves could be stored elsewhere too.)
I've always wondered what the closet's original purpose was. If this was the parlor originally, it's too far away for clothes, really, and there are no holes where coats were once hung or anything like that. It makes no sense as a bookcase; it really looks like an afterthought and not much more. (The door going into the entry room (which was once the kitchen) is on the other side of the fireplace. So it's even, at least. But the doors don't match at all; the one on the closet has glass and it's more of a porch door anyway.)
So I've been thinking. With the advent of the oak bookcase, and moving my desk to the other side of the room, it would actually be neat to have a reading nook of sorts, and to move my reading chair from the bay window, since it will have to move anyway. I could remove the door entirely, place my reading chair somewhat inside the closet, have a lamp behind it, and use the two remaining shelves in the bookcase for large, oversized books and nothing more. Or keep my records on the top shelf and use the other shelf for books--you get the idea, I'm sure.
In fact, I could keep the table leaves inside the closet, because you wouldn't be able to see them at all.
The only issue is that I'm not sure of the width of the bookcase. I think it's about 50" wide, and if that's the case, then my idea would work, with about 5" to spare. Because what I envision is to have the organ on this wall as well, on the other side of the bookcase. And together, that would be 104" across this wall. (Right now, the bookcases and my desk are 105", and since the glass-fronted bookcase is obviously not as deep as my desk, angling my reading chair to fit wouldn't be a problem at all.)
My hickory rocking chair could go in the bay window, my desk would fit fine right in the "alcove" beside it, and voila, the library would live again, with space for glassware/dishes as well as books.
That's a lot of rearranging before the bookcase gets here, though. I was hoping to have it all ready this week, but we'll see. It might not be possible to rearrange that much furniture in so little time.
But now that I have a plan, at least I can make an attempt!
I'm not sure what it's original purpose was; it's right beside the fireplace and has a door that is obviously a replacement; it's been built on and added to.
At the moment, I have odds and ends in this closet, none of which actually need to stay in there at all. Soon, I will be adding my glass-fronted oak bookcase to the library, which will house my great-grandmother's dishes along with many books. And the only other things inside the closet that are actually good, useful items are the table leaves. Everything else inside the closet could be stored somewhere else. (In fact, the table leaves could be stored elsewhere too.)
I've always wondered what the closet's original purpose was. If this was the parlor originally, it's too far away for clothes, really, and there are no holes where coats were once hung or anything like that. It makes no sense as a bookcase; it really looks like an afterthought and not much more. (The door going into the entry room (which was once the kitchen) is on the other side of the fireplace. So it's even, at least. But the doors don't match at all; the one on the closet has glass and it's more of a porch door anyway.)
So I've been thinking. With the advent of the oak bookcase, and moving my desk to the other side of the room, it would actually be neat to have a reading nook of sorts, and to move my reading chair from the bay window, since it will have to move anyway. I could remove the door entirely, place my reading chair somewhat inside the closet, have a lamp behind it, and use the two remaining shelves in the bookcase for large, oversized books and nothing more. Or keep my records on the top shelf and use the other shelf for books--you get the idea, I'm sure.
In fact, I could keep the table leaves inside the closet, because you wouldn't be able to see them at all.
The only issue is that I'm not sure of the width of the bookcase. I think it's about 50" wide, and if that's the case, then my idea would work, with about 5" to spare. Because what I envision is to have the organ on this wall as well, on the other side of the bookcase. And together, that would be 104" across this wall. (Right now, the bookcases and my desk are 105", and since the glass-fronted bookcase is obviously not as deep as my desk, angling my reading chair to fit wouldn't be a problem at all.)
My hickory rocking chair could go in the bay window, my desk would fit fine right in the "alcove" beside it, and voila, the library would live again, with space for glassware/dishes as well as books.
That's a lot of rearranging before the bookcase gets here, though. I was hoping to have it all ready this week, but we'll see. It might not be possible to rearrange that much furniture in so little time.
But now that I have a plan, at least I can make an attempt!
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