Curl up with a good Book

I know it's been a while since I showed more of the home tour. You already got an advance peek into our medicine cabinets and bathroom cupboards. Then you got the whole closet tour. All riveting stuff, I know!

But this is my favorite room in the house. One that I need to spend far more time in. The Library.

Yep, we had an extra room and we made it into the Library. I think I've mentioned before that our house is 110+ years old so we don't have the whole modern "great room" concept at all. We do have 3 bedrooms upstairs and then downstairs we have the living room, dining room, kitchen, sun room and the library.

This room, like the dining room and stairway, still has the original milled paneling unpainted. So you get a lot of rich wood tones. We wanted sort of the eclectic British library feel going on, but we do have a ways to go in getting all of the layering of accessories.

The door to the room opens in on a corner (bottom left if you think of the room as a perfect square) so you get a full view of the room when you walk in. Right in front of you along the wall looking out of the front of the house are our two salon chairs and game table. We got these made through Ballard Designs by shipping them fabric, then they custom upholster them and ship them back. The game table was a post-Furniture Market bargain for only $20! Now we need to find a really good set of chess pieces to go with it. And yeah, this is one room we still need to get blinds for.



If you step into the room and close the door (see it there on the left?), there are these built in shelves which are just perfect for DVDs and books. We have quite a collection which has grown since we started doing backyard movies.



Going around the room counter clockwise, there is a set of bookshelves on the other side of the table and chairs along the same wall. On the wall opposite the door are two windows flanking the fireplace. To the left of the fireplace we have these three huge waist-high glass vases filled with peacock feathers, wicker balls and curling reeds.

On the fireplace mantle are vintage bottles and glass apothecary jars filled with more wicker balls and vintage zoological illustrations. The bowl is by this local artisan who makes amazing pieces. He is in his 70's and he comes to the farmer's market once a year with amazing pieces. We have three of his bowls and buy them for gifts too. Maybe I'll do a post just about his work, because it is so good.



Over the fireplace are vintage botanical illustrations of ferns. I got a bargain on the prints and then blew it all on the framing. I take my framing seriously!



Moving along to the right is the big cushy reading chair. I just love this fabric! What is cool is that I had the chair made locally and the storage ottoman made by Ballard yet the fabric aligned perfectly when they both came in! The floor lamp matches the chandelier in the room and also came from Ballard.



Did you notice this? It's a pretty interesting piece. It looks like a real Luna moth pinned to the board but actually it's a digital image of the moth recreated 3-dimensionally out of paper and feathers. We got this at an art show right before we moved. The artist has a website, Insectworks, and does amazing stuff. I am seriously considering getting more pieces from her because I love them so much.



Next to the chair is lovely little antique oystered table. It's not perfect but I love it. On top I have a collection of Chinese cricket cages. I'm not sure if they are vintage or not but I just love how delicate they are. If you click on the image you can see them a bit better. The one on top right has little fishies carved on the top. The center one is in the shape of an owl while the two in the font are carved with rabbits and birds intertwined.



On the wall opposite the fireplace and two the left of the door are two of our 4 bookcases. They're all glassed in so the books don't get all dusty and are organized somewhat by topic/genre. On top of these I have a bee skep, a little wood piece, vintage bottles, more glass apothecary jars, a piece from the Times Square Waterford New Year's Eve ball from the 2000 NYE and a globe.



The door to the bathroom and the other bookshelf.



The chandelier and our lovely beams.



What's behind this door?????



We call this The Speakeasy. We repurposed the closet to hold a wine cabinet and all of our liquor and party glasses. This room is the coldest room in the house so it's perfect for storing wine. I have a few pictures up in there but it's hard to see the ones on the side walls. This is a close to a secret passage as the hubby has been able to get, although he longs to put a bookshelf in front of the door so it is even more hidden.



The bookshelf between the Speakeasy and the bathroom door. This one is filled with classics, fantasy, medieval and history books.



Back to the main wall you can see lots of cookbooks and my collection of children's books (a lot from my own childhood) and pop-up books. Robert Sabuda's books are pure art and, I don't think, for kids.



I love this little wood and ivory box.



We do a mix of books and pieces so it breaks up the monotony. I really need to add a rug in there and get the shades done.

Then chess pieces and let the games begin!