A room with a view – and books

There’s a guest room. It was painted (walls and ceilings) a sort of dusty rose colour. Not unattractive, but, in a north-facing room without a lot of natural light, really quite dark.

The future of this room in our house has gone back and forth a bit.

At first it was going to continue being the spare room – but with my four poster bed and art deco side tables added.

Before Maisie and I moved in, I brought a desk over which I put in front of the sliding doors.

Mm. Ocean view, little deck outside. Sweet. But no, when it was emptied out, my room was going to be upstairs.

Just before I moved Maisie in, we shifted the desk up to the bedroom.

Ocean view, balcony, sweet. But this was a temporary measure, while Maisie was restricted to the bedroom, bathroom, walk-in closet and storage room. So when I was working on the computer I could be with her.

Still, I kinda got used to the view. When it got to be time to start thinking about moving books and bookcases and whatever into the emptied room upstairs, I briefly balked. I didn’t want to lose the view.

Well, one advantage to the guest room being turned into my room is the amount for free wall space for bookcases. As it happens, Dirk has, currently in what’s left of the garage, two bookcases that were custom built with shelf space exactly the right size for hardcover books. Solid wood, eight foot by four foot – they’d hold every book I still own with room left over. A room for me and my babies.

A fairly dark room. Should it get painted a lighter colour? I do believe it should, if for no other reason than how great this absolutely gorgeous light fixture would look on a lighter ceiling.

Oh, but wait. We’ve got a baby gate at the top of the stairs, so Ember can’t get to the bedroom unsupervised. We’ve sorted out the library (reason Dirk no longer needed the other bookcases).

Which Maisie loves.

Although she has (hurrah!) recently made her way downstairs voluntarily, there is no sign that she is ready to abandon the safety of the other side of the baby gate, so should I really be setting up shop downstairs?

Or should I stay up here with her? Yes, of course I should.

You gave up that view for Maisie? Man, you must really love that cat. Yes, I do.

Just one problem. Aside from how heavy those bookcases in the garage are and how incredibly awkward it would be to get them upstairs into what is now officially my study, if all my books were in this smaller space, there would barely be room for anything else.

There is all that wall space in the guest room and, as I was reminded during a recent visit to his sister and brother-in-law, there is no reason bookcases can’t line the walls of a guest room.

Okay, it can stay the guest room – with books. Does it still need to be painted? No, I say at first, thinking of the hassle. Then I go in, look at that beautiful light fixture on that dark ceiling and sigh. Yes, it does still need to be painted.

So, that was my day yesterday.

And will be my day tomorrow and Saturday and Sunday. It’s going to look great. And have a great reading selection for guests.