Crafty Tuesday: The Bookshelf

There hasn't been much sewing going on recently; in fact, the main activity around my neck of the woods has been coughing and blowing my nose. :-( .
(I am the victim of the most persistent and debilitating 'flu at the moment).

However, during the recent school holidays I got a bit of crafty on, which I felt moved to share. (Yeah. Damn right I'm proud of myself!!!)

You see, one of the big money items on our Inheritance to-Do List, was the replacement of the flooring in our main living areas. On the first weekend of the holidays we saved ourselves $150.00 by moving all the furniture ourselves (what were we thinking???) and preparing for the arrival of the floormen. On the Tuesday that they were due, they arrived at 10:30am and had the audacity to announce that this was not a one day job. They proceeded to pull up the carpets, fill the house with dust and leave. Himself and I faced each other in a house with nowhere to sit, nowhere to eat and two days to wait for their return. >:-(

We decided to attack a bit of decorating whilst everything was in disarray so I hired a wallpaper steamer and we removed the cringeworthy 80s wallpaper frieze which has been bugging me since 2005 (see below):


Some of us were creative in our use of time.


Everything was going well until the steamer removed more than the wall paper.

These little patches actually doubled in size when I started my clean up ready for plastering! Himself was horrified and panic stricken until I told him I had patched bigger areas. I calmly set about rectifying the problem.

The floorers arrived a few days later and started work.

Our new gas heater proved problematic as the floorers couldn't get the carpet out from underneath.
"It's OK," quipped the gentleman, "we can leave it like this and then just kind of put a bit of beading around it....

Yeah, right! Like THAT was going to look OK!!!!
In the end we called the gas installer who came and UNinstalled the heater and then came back to reinstall once the floor was down.


Good job, I reckon.


So, here is my plastering:


And Himself's choice of new paint colour. Still not completely sold on that. Oh well.

Now this alcove is the point of this whole post but let's face it, if you've stayed with me this far you are obviously family, a renovator or incredibly loyal! (Or possibly all three...Unka Dick?)
There was previously a pretty utilitarian bookshelf occupying this alcove, the result of two households coming together in marriage with a plethora of disparate furniture*.

It is a mark of its ugliness that I have no other photos of it except as a backdrop to sewing!


Once the new floor was in, I couldn't bear to try and squeeze the totally inappropriate item back into the space and so I decided to stretch my carpentorial wings.
My Bestie had built bookshelves before so I called her in as an adviser. She recommended a simple plinth (only four screws required), then a trip to Bunnings for some pre-cut timber lengths to be supported on dowells.


Rather than a central support, she recommended a random allocation of uprights to prevent 'bowing'.

And here is the finished product!


And now, here is a gratuitous picture of Small Boy with his first batch of homemade pancakes.


And if that ain't enough craftiness for ya', click here to check out Carrie's 'Crafty Tuesday' at Barely Controlled Chaos, where you are bound to find something inspirational!