The Complete Library. Almost.

The library’s renovation is complete and its re-furnishing is nearly so. I now have enough shelf-space for all my books, which hasn’t been the case since I was an adolescent. Some of my books are upstairs but the majority is in the basement. This is the lobby that you pass through as you come off the stairs. It used to be bare, but I decided to fill it a bit. The bookcase is the only one that isn’t part of a set or pair, so, with my fondness for symmetry (I've become more neo-classical than Gothic revival over the years), I placed it between two armchairs.

The main space of the library is, I think, made roomier by the new flooring, and a bit warmer in tone thanks to the ‘tapestry’ I have moved into it. It depicts a cat with cat-themed books, so I figured it would be better placed in the library of a cat-man, rather than upstairs. It’s a little too big (funny phrase, that: ‘little...big’…) but I think it fits the surroundings, if not the space allotted to it.

You may notice that the chairs before the fireplace are quite similar to those in the lobby. That’s because they’re the same ones. I have yet to acquire a small couch or a couple of armchairs for the main part of the library, so, for illustrative purposes, I moved them temporarily from the lobby, which is where they will stay in the future. This is, as they say, an artist’s impression of what the library will look like after the last furniture is found and placed.

I find it ironic that now that I have shelves to fill again, the new flooring for the library has set me back too much to buy new books. But that will be a fleeting situation, I hope. In the meantime, I will enjoy the books I have, and the room I have in which to keep them. And I’ll enjoy the cats who keep me company while I read.