Bookshelves Installed!

Our exceedingly speedy carpenter, Javier Diaz, finished our bookshelves in a week and installed them last night. They look terrific, and they're very sturdy. I'm writing this from my lovely new window seat as we speak. The style is very square and simple, which is exactly what we wanted and what I think suits the house best. He made it of plywood with a maple (or birch?) veneer, which turned out really pretty--it has rather a rather subtle, light grain. Chuck & Ladonna are coming up next Tue for a quick visit, so I'm looking forward to showing the unit off, since the Vests are essentially the Patron Saints of the Bookcase.

Next week we'll pick up some stain and varnish and hopefully get the whole thing ready to use by Sunday so we can finish unpacking our books and get that monstrous metal file cabinet out of the way.

Lovely new shelves (minus the actual shelves, which we'll install post-staining)

You may have observed, though, that the window and shelves aren't entirely square (noticeable at the top and bottom of the frame). That's because the windows themselves aren't square, which rather gave Javier fits, I think. The shelves and window seat are nice and level--the window, not so much. I'm hoping to camouflage this particular problem with curtains, a bench cushion, and throw pillows. Eventually.

Anyway, we were very happy with Javier's work, and we'll almost certainly use him a few months down the line, when the antique doors will all be ready for re-sizing and hanging. I'm so glad to have found a reliable, reasonable carpenter--such a useful person to have in one's contacts!

Meanwhile, we've also lurched forward another step towards resuscitating the porch glider. Matt scrubbed the frame with a wire brush, and then we rustoleumed the heck out of it. (If I'd had my druthers, I'd have gone with a softer shade of white, but there aren't a lot of options in rustoleum--it's pretty much Hospital White or beige.)

It's another gorgeous Saturday (probably about 71F, sun is shining, birds are twittering, really beautiful), so I felt the urgent burning need for a functional porch swing the whole time. However, we still have to
1) varnish all the wood
2) paint the underside of the frame
3) buy, cut, bend, and drill a pipe into three pieces for the swing's supports.

So we better have a few more nice weekends this year, cos the swing's got a bit more work before it'll be ready.

Rusty swing

Freshly painted swing, glowing rather aggressively in the sunlight