LibraryOffice Update
Hello! ^_^
So before I get to the photos, I wanted to talk a little bit about what I ended up doing.
Originally, I wanted an entire wall filled with shelves, not quite going up to the ceiling because I’m short, along with a basic desk with a drawer or two to house my ridiculous pen collection. I considered custom shelving, but as my budget for everything changed multiple times over the moving process, I looked into other options while I was making up my mind.
So, first, IKEA. I like their Billy shelves, they look good, but I really wanted gray shelves, so it was a compromise from the get-go. I also wasn’t going to be able to fill the wall with them. I did find a configuration that would be close enough, but every time I tried to check out, something random was unavailable for shipping. After a week of this, I gave up and tried something else. I could have compromised and gotten darker shelves, but I really wanted the office to be different from my general aesthetic.
Next, I found shelves that came with a ladder, and I was super in love! The only problem is that they took up even less of the wall than the IKEA shelves, cost a bunch more, didn’t have a matching desk, didn’t have the number of shelves I wanted, and wasn’t the color I wanted either. So, I kept looking until I found a similar style in a color that was closer to what I wanted.
Out of stock.
I’ll skip over the next few configurations I tried, but at this point, I wasn’t sure I even wanted a ladder anymore, so I decided it was better to get something without a ladder, because I could always pretty easily add one later. I also stopped caring about how much it would cost, because not only was my budget finally set at this point, I also decided it was worth it if I could get something I loved, so I focused on trying to cover as much of the wall as possible.
Insert another week here. Happy with nothing.
I finally found some gray shelves in a style I liked. Of course, they didn’t take up as much of the wall as I wanted, and I didn’t like the shade of gray, but that didn’t matter because they were out of stock anyway. So I compromised some more with some antique white shelves from that same manufacturer that had cherry back paneling. I really didn’t like the paneling, but I did like the antique look, it had the six shelves I wanted, and I was tired of shopping. The site said they would ship in ten days. Great. Ordered. Done.
No.
Ten days went by. They didn’t ship. I call them, and after consulting with the manufacturer, they said it was going to be two months. So I cancelled the order, unwilling to be in limbo with my office any longer than another month, and called a company to build me custom shelves, which funny enough cost less than the shelves I had ordered, were going to cover the entire wall, AND I could get the look I wanted.
Picture One:
The set up came with seven shelves, but because of the height, I knew that wouldn’t work. I’d have to go up to the ceiling in order to utilize seven shelves between the average height of my books and the way I prefer things to be spaced, not to mention the problem of not being able to reach anything on a seventh shelf. I wanted this to be accessible, so the first thing I did was measure to see how far apart I wanted the shelves, and then I took the top shelves out and moved things around.
To procrastinate productively, I watched a handful of bookshelf organization videos to figure out the best way to start getting this together, and I ended up with this configuration:
The chair in the corner has been replaced with a gray fabric chair, but I didn’t have the chair yet when I took this picture. I’m going to try the desk in the middle of the room, and I’m leaving the printer on the shelf for now. I rarely scan anything, and I don’t need the shelf space right now, but it will likely be moved at some point.
I have a few more books to add and a few bits of decor, but it’s a good start, so I’m going to move on to decorating the walls. I’m probably not going to be completely happy with the way things are organized until I have more books, but I love that I have plenty of space, and I love the way it looks in general. 😀
8 Comments
Tonja Drecker
Wow! It looks really nice. And with those carpet floors, I’m not sure your ladder would have been super easy to use. Love it!
Krystal Jane
Thank you! I think you’re right about the ladder on the carpet. It wouldn’t be easier to use than a step stool.
Michelle Athy
The shelves look great! I really like that gray and look how organized everything is.
Krystal Jane
Thanks! I’m really liking the different sections. ^_^
Thea Landen
I love it! And I know we went over this in a previous post, but I love the paint color you picked for the walls, too!
I feel like a ladder might have been just asking for trouble, though at least you have carpet to break any potential falls. 😉
Krystal Jane
Thanks! I love the walls, too. 😀 And I’m happy I didn’t let a ladder dictate what kind of shelves I get.
Jodi
Confession: I skipped straight to the pics. But then I went back and read everything.
The shelves look SO great. Such an adorable little library. I’m totally jealous. Now I have to figure out where I can squeeze bookshelves into my she shed. 😂
FTR you’re the only person I know who’d go through all this insanity for some bookshelves (including watching book organizing videos). You crack me up.
Krystal Jane
Ha! ^_^ I thought about where I’d put shelves in every house I looked at. Lol! There’s room in the she shed for a mini library, I know it! There was a cozy reading nook in my 4th grade classroom that I loved so much.