The Library Bookshelves!

If you've been reading LGN for practically any amount of time, you probably know that I love me a good bookshelf! In the past we've used a series of IKEA bookshelves to house most of our books (here's a link to the DIY arched version and the faux-built-in version). When we moved to this house though, I knew we were going to invest in something special for our library built-ins. I am SO happy with how these turned out! The shelves are pretty much the first thing we see when we walk in the door and they make me smile every time.

I hired a local company called Classy Closets to build and install the insanely huge shelves (they are over 16' tall!). I learned about the locally-owned company first when I was helping my friend Caitlin Wilson work on a show house for the Street of Dreams in Gilbert. Show homes are a great way to discover local companies and I saw Classy Closets' work and was super impressed.

They were wonderful to work with them from the get-go. They have amazing in-house designers that can take care of everything if that's what you need/want, but they also love to collaborate with designers. They also offer trade pricing or commissions, which ends up being really helpful for big projects like this one, though I will say their pricing is incredibly fair for the great, fast work they do. And actually, Classy Closets is offering a huge give away right now for a $2000 worth of custom cabinetry (they do everything from closets to kitchens)!

So the basic process was I came up with a few drawings and then worked with their production designer to finalize the dimensions and the plan. There were some pretty big tweaks to what I initially wanted because of the vintage library ladder I was asking them to incorporate in the design. The design team was amazingly detailed and careful about the ladder and how and where to install the rod to make the ladder run as smooth as possible.

Let's back up a little though and savor the project reveal! :) If you'll remember, we had a big empty wall here before. We pulled off the old moulding, had an electrician move the wiring up to where the library lights would be, patched the walls and holes with drywall mud, and then primed and painted the whole thing the color of the bookshelves (Ben Moore's Chantilly Lace).

Once the shelving design had been finalized, it only took a couple of weeks for the Classy Closets crew to build the cabinetry. The installation took almost two full days for an entire team though! This was a huge project and they were wonderful craftsmen. I couldn't have been happier with the work they did - clean and efficient.

At the end of the second day, the library ladder track was installed. I chose an iron rod to match the hardware on the rollers of the ladder. I thought about doing brass to match the lighting (which was a sale find at Restoration Hardware) and the large ring pulls (which are from Liz's Antique Hardware), but I like how the metals and finishes mix. 

The ladder, which was a $250 Craigslist find (apparently inherited from a famous race car driver in California? Here's the back story there.), runs as smooth as butter. It's hard to not hop on for a ride a few times a day! :)

It's pretty amazing that we have all of our books in one place finally. Even in Brooklyn, we ended up having to store some books in other rooms. But having this much storage space is completely amazing. 

We did my trick of organizing by genre and then very loosely by color. And then I just added in a few little containers here and there to break things up a bit.

These built-ins are such a big part of our home now. We all love spending time in the library. It feels homey and cozy and comfortable. A big thank you to Classy Closets for being so generous to me with their time and with their designer discount. I am happy to have found another great local resource! And locals, don't forget to enter the $2000 master closet redo give away here.

New Frames and Tiger Chest in the Library

I love coming up with ideas for inexpensive but still good-looking framing options (I included a link list at the bottom of this post), but sometimes it's fun to drop off art at a framers. I happened to noticed a couple of really pretty gold frame moldings at Michaels that were on clearance a few weeks ago.

I found both of these paintings at local junk and thrift stores in the past year since we moved here and I LOVE them both! The colors and subject matters are so beautiful to me, and they were both pretty inexpensive, so it was worth it to spend some money on pretty frames (I think the smaller one came up to about $45 and the larger was $75).

I have them hung over my favorite tiger chest (that was a Housing Works find in the city) in our front room/library area.

I wanted to keep all the colors in the same family here and I love how they all work together with the color of the new curtains too.

The Sonneman lamp was a recent purchase I got during a work trip at Olde Good Things in New York. The metal sphere is from CB2. The girls pretend it's some sort of gazing/crystal ball situation. It's pretty unbreakable, so I mostly just think it's hilarious when I find it in the playroom at the end of most days. :)

The leaning abstract was another vintage find. There is some sort of interesting back story about the artist, whose name is simply Harley, but I don't know much about him. Antique Gatherings in Scottsdale has a ton of his work right now though. I'm sure it was an estate purchase.

I love this little spot in our home. :)

And as promised, here's a list of some cheap framing/matting options:

DIY Frames from Bigger Frames (photos below)
$4 Giant Prints and Mounting on Foam Board
Antique Prints in IKEA Frames
"Gold Leafing" Old Frames with Markers and with Legit Leaf
Adding Hand-Drawn Lines to Existing Matting
Bias Tape Designs on Matting
Colorful Mats

HAPPY WEEKEND!!! Woot!

Rust Mohair Slipper Chair

A long time ago, I fell in love with a rust-colored velvet slipper chair I saw at Lillian August. I loved the cream contrasting welt. It felt so pretty and fresh to me!

A year or two later, I found this tight-backed slipper chair at the Restoration Hardware outlet from their deconstructed line.

I think it was about $100. We kept it in our living room in the brownstone while I was trying to figure out what fabric to cover it in (or really, just trying to find the time to do it).

Then after we moved to Phoenix and while I was rushing to get the house ready for the Domino shoot, I popped into one of my favorite local fabric stores called SAS Fabrics (the one on Indian School is the best) and I found a few yards of the prettiest deep rust, almost oxblood, mohair fabric there for only $3.99 a yard! I used a lot of dusty mint colors in our library and music room area and I loved how these colors looked together.

I had my upholsterer follow the curve of the back and sides with a cream piping, inspired by the Lillian August chair that I saw so many years ago.

Isn't it funny how some things just sort of stay with you? I'm so glad I finally got my rust slipper chair. I feel like it was a long time coming! :)

Onyx X-Base Side Tables

Years ago, at the ABC Outlet in the Bronx, I fell in love with this antique onyx-topped side table. But even on sale the table was about $700, so I just took a few photos of it and filed away the idea.

When I was figuring out the floor plan for the library, I knew I would likely have to design my own side tables for the roll-arm sofa, since the bay windows made the space a little awkward for furniture. I needed long and skinny tables that were the right height for the low sofa arms. (Don't mind my dresses hanging in the window here - I was just trying to figure out what color I liked for curtains.) :)

About the same time, I totally fell in love with the legs of these side tables that were for sale on Chairish. The dimensions weren't right for my space though and the color of the stone was too similar to my floors, but the design was just about perfect!

I had found a welder who I was also using to make my bathroom sink base. His name is Dave and his business is called Custom Metal Concepts. He's a really, really nice guy and was careful with all the things I cared the most about (the diameter of the rods and the sturdiness of the bases). He is not all that comfortable with painted finishes as far as I could tell though, so I offered to handle that part myself. I am so thrilled with his work on both of the projects I had him do. I knew the tables would look different from the photos I gave Dave since my dimensions were about half the size of the inspiration tables, but I think he did a wonderful job of maintaining the feel and the proportion of the originals. And they are as sturdy as can be! No wobbles here.

For the table tops, I stopped in to Allpride Marble again to see what their remnant section had to offer. I found this (very dusty) small piece of onyx that was only $30! Fabrication costs were about $50 though, just to have the tops cut to size with polished edges and then to have the surfaces honed. But I guess $80 for the stone wasn't such a bad deal.

I measured and marked out the cuts before leaving the stone yard so I could maximize what I thought were the prettiest parts of the slab. They dropped off the finished tabletops with the sink a couple weeks ago. I LOVE how the light shines through the stone. It just glows in full sun!

Before I epoxied the onyx to the table bases, I cleaned up some of the rust off the steel legs.

I used my fingers and a rag to add some Gold Leaf Rub'N Buff to the legs in just selective spots. I didn't want the finish to look uniform at all.

The steel took the Rub'N Buff really well and after it had dried the finish was pretty solid and wasn't going anywhere. It dried almost like paint.

I really, really love the tables. I love how they look, but I mostly love how unique they are! Lots of people indirectly came together to create these tables - from inspiration to fabrication. It was such a satisfying creative process for me.

It's hard to say exactly how much each table came out to in the end because the welder gave me a bundled price for the sink base and the two tables, but with the stone fabrication and everything I think these came out to about $200 each. Not exactly thrift store prices, but I know I will love these forever and ever. They are worth every penny and more to me.