It’s been months since I last shared updates on our family room’s builtin bookshelves but with the unexpected & long-lasting effects of the pandemic, finding carpenters available for the job in our area has been a challenge and everything took longer than we had originally planned. Ten months and thousands of phone calls later, we’re grateful that the builtin bookshelves are done and the job is 90% completed. We just finished painting the room so I thought I’d share with you where we are with this project.
We started with a blank slate – an empty room on the day of our move. The previous owners had taken very good care of the house and were using this spare bedroom on the ground floor as a home office / library / laundry room. They even left us a set of bookshelves and a wooden bed, pictured above & below, and we were very grateful.
The problem was that at 11’x11’ the room was too small & oddly configured for all of us to comfortably be in at the same time. The windows were old and off-center and we had a small living room right next to it but no family room, so we immediately thought about opening the two and connecting them with French doors that could provide separation when needed, more light and a better flow. We did this fairly quickly, a couple of months into our move, and then I started thinking about ways to make this room hardworking for the way our family lives. It needed to multi-task since space is at a premium at our house and every inch counts. This room had to house our ample collection of books, be a home office, family room and, occasionally, guest bedroom and builtin bookshelves seemed the obvious answer. Plus, I’ve always dreamed of a room in my house filled with books and this was my chance 🙂
Work started on August 30th, 2020, and our contractor began by removing the off-center window shown above and proceeded to replace it with a pair of smaller ones, centered on the wall. We got these from Home Depot, they are Andersen’s Woodwright 400 series and we absolutely love them and plan on changing the rest of our windows as well, over time.
We had the walls covered in bead board panels (also from Home Depot – we got these sheets and trimmed the excess to accommodate our 7′-8″ ceilings) & I designed bookshelves to wrap around the windows and the French doors, allowing room for an 80” wide sofa bed alcove under the windows.
Right now, the sofa we have planned for this room is backordered and will possibly arrive in December. The rug is backordered also, so I’m using a smaller one we had in storage. In the meantime, we have a nice camelback sofa we got from Facebook Marketplace last summer, and it fits perfectly in the window alcove. It will eventually move to the living room with new slips and new upholstery, but for now I’m enjoying the progress. Window shades are on the way, and so are colorful cushions and performance velvet for our ottoman. But more on than soon, I hope. Here is the corner of the family room/ home office /library right now, ready for books, window treatments & styling.
After debating the issue for months, my husband and I finally agreed on moving the big screen TV to the basement and have a smaller 32” one fit into the built-in shelves (below). This may not be a very popular decision but I feel it works best with the diminutive scale of the room. Books & board games & conversation take center stage in here, not the TV screen, and that’s something I wanted for our family and this space.
There is a bit more work to be done in the room, obviously, but it is minimal compared to the amount we’ve done so far. I need to order removable grilles for the windows and I haven’t shared the closet yet, which we turned into a work space by installing a desktop we can all use for office work. We’re waiting on brackets to install shelving above the tabletop (yes, more shelving :))) – for baskets and things I’d like to keep hidden behind bifold doors), and then we’re done with the architectural changes. For now.
This project has been so much fun to imagine and create on paper, the planning stage was wonderful. The really painful part was finding the right people to execute these plans, at the right price point for us. Patience is not one of my virtues and I feel like this project has stretched my limits to the max. Before starting we got many quotes from different companies and independent contractors in the area but because we were very mindful of the budget, we had to compromise cost over expedience. We chose people we trusted and worked with before, a hardworking duo, but because they do quality work at reasonable prices, they’ve gotten busier than ever with bigger & higher paying jobs during the pandemic, and this caused a lot frustration on both sides.
Budget breakdown: The total cost of this project was a little under $6,000, with expenses spread over the course of ten months. This includes labor, a pair of new windows, paint and materials, plumbing work involved with moving the washer & dryer from the closet down to the basement. We were lucky that we purchased all of the necessary materials last summer, the price of lumber has soared since and it would have cost us twice as much, if not more. I kept a work log and, overall, it took our team of two guys 18 partial days of actual work to complete the job. When we were interviewing contractors, one guy arrived, this was in the scheduling phase last summer, and after suggesting that we get a new roof and new siding ($30,000 – done by him, of course), he proceeded to give us a $13,000 quote for labor only, for the bookshelves – while our trusted guys quoted us $1,300 for the labor. Although they’ve taken ten months to finish they’ve stayed close to the original quote and we’re very happy with the results. Anyway, thanks for sticking with me until the end of this not-so-pretty post, please excuse the grainy photos taken with my phone. I hope I’ll be able to show you images of the styled space as soon as the soft furnishings arrive.
Popular wisdom says one needs three things for a successful renovation: a good plan, a great contractor, and an excellent psychiatrist. After last year’s experience, I must say that I agree.
To read more about our home renovation, make sure to check out the following Café Design stories:
Our Home | Designing our Builtin Bookshelves
Our Home | Staircase Inspiration
Our Home | Living Room Progress
Our Home | What We’ve Been Up To
Such a charming, cozy room! It’s perfect.
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Thank you so much, Lori! xo, Eva
I love what you have done with the room so far. I understand about using trustworthy people who do good work even if you have to wait longer and pay more, as long as it’s not ridiculously high.
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Thank you so much, Paula! Yes, absolutely… Trust is essential because you’re letting someone into your home and into your life… It’s better to wait and find the right person than to ignore any potential red flags and pay the price later on.
xo, Eva
Eva, I have followed your progress and this is turning into a cozy and sweet space. As my Grandfather use to say, “Little by little the Bird builds its Nest”. You have been very patient, indeed! Good things, sometimes come in small doses. It’s going to be wonderful! Thank you for sharing.
I love that quote! I’m going to have to start using that. 🙂
This room is absolutely so charming! Very well done! Can’t wait to see it styled!
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Thank you so much, Caroline! xo
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Thank you so much, Susan! I love that saying… xo, Eva
Really beautiful job. You are a visionary.
Astounded as to the variation in the amounts quoted.
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Thank you so much, Gina! We were astounded too, especially by the obvious attempts of some of the contractors to sell themselves on projects we had not even asked about 🙁 xo, Eva
I love what you’ve done. Beautiful!
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Thank you so much, Donna! xo
Thank you for the update! The posts showing the progress you are making on your own home are my favorite. I can’t believe how much you have accomplished already. It is so charming.
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Thank you so much, Lauren! xo, Eva
What a perfect blank canvas for you! I love every decision you made and it was clearly well worth waiting for. Can’t wait to see as it progresses…..
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Thank you so much, Linda! xo
Lovely! I’d love to see how you worked that baseboard heater in. Is it partially under the bookcases?
I have had it with contractors! I’ve used their services over 30 years and it gets harder to deal politely with people who want to tell you what you want to do to your home.
We had estimates as high as 12K for a wall of bookcases a year before pandemic. Bored & retired, we decided to try to build it ourselves. We used a Shelf Help skeleton and in all cost us 1K and time we had.
It is perfect!
Author
Hi, Pam! Thanks, the radiator is partially under the bookcase, yes. I designed the builtins in such a way that the shelves begin 1″ above the radiator, and had holes cut our and vents installed on the the base trim to allow the heat to circulate into the room. We have hot water radiators that never get hot enough to be a danger, otherwise I would recommend additional measures for fire-safety. xo, Eva
Oh my goodness, you are so talented! I love what you’ve done with this little gem of a room, and can’t wait to see it finished!
And for another old adage, necessity is the mother of invention, and you’ve done so well with the constraints of this past year and a half.
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Thank you so much, Diana! I appreciate the encouragement! xo
Brilliant re-design of a small room! The bookcases are very practical and attractive!
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Thank you so much, Janet! xo
You guys have done an amazing job! Thank you so much for sharing the before and after pics! You are breathing life into this house : )
Cameo
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Aww, thank you so much Tonya! xo, Eva
This is lovely. I manage all of our home projects the same way. I find good people who don’t want to rip us off. I’ve never been disappointed.
Karen
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Thank you, Karen! Glad to hear you’ve been successful at finding the right people to work with. It is the one thing that can make or break a project. xo, Eva