Is summer the universal time to work on house projects? We've been more productive since the weather has turned warmer. Douglas recently finished up building two handsome wooden bookcases for our living room. When we were first married, we bought some cheap shelves from Target, but they basically fell apart after five years of use and three moves. I'm so happy to have space for all our books now! With these bookcases, plus the built-in bookcases in our mantel, there's room for everything, and it helps give the living room a library-ish atmosphere.
When I visit other people's houses, I like to (not-so-surreptitiously) check out their books, if they're in a public area, that is. :) It's fun to see if we've read any of the same books or share the same loves. Anyone else do that?
Douglas and I spent the afternoon of my birthday prepping our bedroom to move into later that night. We've been working on fixing up that room -- priming, painting, pulling up carpet, new cellular blinds, installing quarter round. It's looking SO much better, although it still needs some decorative touches before it really becomes our sanctuary.
Now the girls will eventually end up in the bedroom that Douglas and I just evacuated. It has a built-in wooden vanity with lots of drawers and two cupboards, which works well for their small wardrobes. The first thing I did to beautify their room was to line their drawers with Crabtree & Evelyn drawer liners left over from my unmarried days... a rose print for Rosamund's drawers and a lavender print for Lavinia's drawers. Perfectly serendipitous! I'm still working on sorting through clothes, organizing and purging, and the girls' room has been my base of operations for all this. It's been a huge job, but oh, how I'm looking forward to having that off my mind!
I'm a 31-year-old Christian. My hope is to live a quiet life filled with home and hearth, family and friends, loveliness and simplicity. I'm wife to Douglas (married October 2008) and mother to Edmund (born November 2009), Lavinia (born May 2012), and Rosamund (born February 2014).
Posts
Haha, no you aren't the only one who looks at book titles in other's homes! It's funny, when I was little I was taught not to be snoopy or stare; ie., respecting people and their property, for which I'm grateful for. However as I've gotten older and appreciate books so much more than I used to, my curiousity gets the better of me when I see a shelf full of books. It's even easier for me to do it when I've seen the other party stare at my own things! ;P
ReplyDeleteHaha, Cheri, you can come look at my books! I'm sure our tastes are very similar :)
DeleteI love peeking at others' book collections too. :)
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely week, Laura!
Thank you, Lynda!
DeleteI love those drawer liners! I'm inspired to find some for our little girl's nursery.
ReplyDeleteAnd, yes, I always peek at other people's libraries. It's fascinating! (=
Mrs. Pedersen, I hope you can find some! I believe Crabtree & Evelyn still sells nice drawer liners, although they've changed the prints by now. :)
DeleteYes, I look at other people's books too. I was even tilting my screen on its side to try and look at yours!
ReplyDeleteIts amazing how a bookcase can reveal things a normal conversation won't do! We had an elderly, retired (and very deaf) lawyer come to our home, see a copy of Johnson's essays (which to be honest I hadn't looked at since University days). He took it down and read aloud while discussing his love for Johnson and other great (and neglected) English classics. Now almost every Sunday at church, he pulls me aside and shares with me a quote or an anecdote from his reading, or lends me a book he's enjoyed, and I've been able to develop a fascinating friendship (and a greater appreciation for the classics) which I don't think I would have otherwise had (especially given how hard of hearing he is).
Oh, how lovely, what a nice way to connect with someone! I'm sure he enjoys the added dimension to your friendship, too!
DeleteThat particular shelf in my photo holds some of our English anthologies leftover from college days (and a vintage '40s textbook I bought at a used book sale), as well as some Shakespeare and poetry. :)