What I've been reading...

I've always been an avid reader. Not necessarily an intellectual reader, let's be truthful, I'm in it for the entertainment. But whether you want intellectual improvement or purely vacuous entertainment, books are the answer.

Reading is a wonderful refuge. I've been shaped by the books I've read just as much as my real-life experiences. You can read my previous post on why I love to read here.

I can almost review my life according to its literary trends. There was the 'young-girl-finds-her-power phase thanks to Trixie Belden and Nancy Drew. The unfortunate, but on reflection, probably necessary Barbara Cartland years. Georgette Heyer taught me about history and linguistics. Then along came Maeve Binchy, who reconnected me to my Irish roots and is a master of characterization. Then came university and the text book years. Anatomy and physiology won-out over fiction. These I refer to as the Literary Lean Years. Fortunately for my soul, they did not endure long.

So many good books, so many stories and ideas, so much inspiration.

So how do you find a good book? I've found great reads through magazine reviews, library noticeboards, even by eavesdropping on other's book conversations. I cold-browse library shelves and I adore second-hand book shops. I love new book shops too. But second-hand adds something special, almost romantic to a book. And, importantly, it keeps dollars in my pocket for even more books. Occasionally I might even buy a book for its aesthetic appeal alone. It looks amazing, or is so old I can feel the history seeping from its pages.

I thought I'd share with you some of my latest enjoyments.

I recently visited a book shop in St Kevin's Arcade, Auckland. I love visiting this arcade. It's Art Deco era architecture is worth the trip alone. Lead-light glass fills the atrium with sunlight and the view over Meyer's park and the city is breathtaking. The arcade is filled with a mix of cafes, and tiny barista shops alongside vintage and retro-inspired shops, including The Green Dolphin. The Green Dolphin is the wardrobe-sized variety of book shop (if you didn't read the link above on why I love second hand books and my favourite type of bookshop you can read it here,). Three people and the shop is crowded, five people and we're falling over each other. cash only. I bought two books for the sum of $25. Far more expense than my usual charity shop finds but far cheaper than a new-book shop.

Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss.

Its about punctuation essentially. I bought it because I love to write almost as much as I love to read. Writing is a skill and it's one in need of constant improvement (particularly for me as I can't spell worth a damn and my punctuation could be described as ...developing). I expected a dry book of instruction that I'd have to force myself to endure. Instead I received an entertaining book by someone with an infectious passion for punctuation. The chapter on the apostrophe had me crying with laughter. Who would have thought a book such as this would be so entertaining? That's the beauty of a great, yet unexpected book find.







Vita & Harold; the Letters of Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson 1910 - 1962, edited by Nigel Nicolson.

I am very fond of volumes of letters. I mourn the passing of proper letter-writing. I don't think, in the future, volumes of emails will have the same feel as a proper handwritten letter. Volumes of letters are an amazing insight into our past, how people lived and how they thought. This volume was no exception. If you don't know these people (and I admit I had never heard of either before this book), they are English and wealthy. Both were writers, and you can still buy Vita's books on Amazon today. Harold was also a diplomat and many of his letters are set during WWI. His description of visiting the front (the main line of fighting) is savage in its imagery. I can barely read his description of the noise and the chaos, and the wounded arriving, and the flowering cherry tree under which sat buckets of body parts cut from soldiers, without crying. It lends new appreciate to why we celebrate ANZAC day. Not only is the historical content fascinating, Vita and Harold's relationship is riveting. They were married in 1913 and over the course of their relationship wrote over 10,000 letters to each other. That's 192 letters a year! They really loved each other, despite each having multiple affairs, Vita famously with Virginia Woolf. Some of the letters are a little over the top, but if nothing else, you'll be inspired to write a love letter of your own.


Let me know in the comments below what you've been reading. I love recommendations.



As always, have a great week.

Grace

How to build a beautiful and functional built-in book case

What is it we want in our homes?  Apart from the obvious, a roof and walls to keep out the elements (still working on that one), I mean after that. I've been thinking about this over the last few weeks and have come to some conclusions.

• I'd like to be able to find a pair of scissors without searching every draw in the house. 
• A place for everything and everything in its place - ideal, but let's face it, not likely to happen.
• Comfort - yes, definitely
• Style - one can hope
• Cleanliness - yes but not to the extreme, I do have a life
• Beauty - frivolous maybe, but it just makes life more enjoyable
• My favorite things out where I can enjoy them

I love the idea of minimalism, but not the spirit. I've tried, I really have. If you've read my earlier posts you are my witness. But its just not in me. I love my stuff, I love finding new stuff (second-hand of course), and I love finding new ways to use and display my stuff. At the same time, I don't want to live in utter chaos either.

Miss B is affectionately known in the family as The Rat Baby. She likes to hoard all her things in a big mess in her room, and is appalled at the suggestion of throwing anything out. She remains traumatized by the time she witnessed The Bloke donating some of her toys to a charity shop. She still sheds tears at the re-telling. NEVER allow your child to see you giving their stuff away, think trust issues and expensive psychotherapy.

I suspect Miss B may have inherited her hoarding tenancies from me, as much as I'd like to blame The Bloke. Mind you, I'm not the kind of hoarder that has piles of newspapers from the last 20 years, or anything so extreme. But I do have a healthy amount of possessions, especially books, family memorabilia, and what I call 'bits and pieces'. Things that I love that have no function other than to make me smile when I see them.

So if minimalism isn't for me, what was I to do with all my things? To try and corral some of my possessions into some semblance of control and order, I asked The Bloke to make me a bookshelf.

After our success with both the wardrobe and the garage storage unit, I felt inspired to design a solution that The Bloke could make. I wanted shelving that would be substantial. Something that I could display my favorite things on, but also something to store the not so beautiful, like boxes of tax records.

I am beyond delighted with what we achieved. The shelves are exactly as I imagined them.

I had been looking at behind-the-couch shelves on Pinterest and thought I would combine the two.

From the top of the couch down is storage for business papers, and records that are rarely used, but have to be kept. The couch sits up against the shelves, so this part is not visible, but the sofa can be pulled out to access them if needed. Above are all the things I use regularly, as well as some display room for bits and pieces. 

We made the unit out of MDF board from Bunnings Warehouse.

First we worked out the measurements. I like the look of shelving that has segregated spaces. We planned how tall and wide the space was, and then divided that into three equal vertical spaces and four horizontal spaces from the sofa up. From the sofa down the spaces were made to specifically store various items.

the shelving made from MDF board.

I really wanted a unit that looked built in, and so we used a router to cut grooves in the vertical boards to slide in the horizontal shelves. The post on our wardrobe gives more information on using the router, you can read about it here. We also decided to add thicker 10 by 30 mm fascia to the front of the horizontal boards to give the shelves a nice chunky look. 

fascia added to the horizontal boards.

                        

We punched in the nails and filled the wholes with plaster for a smooth painting finish

hammer and punch tool to knock in the nails.

punching in the nails to just below the surface of the fascia

an example of the nail head punched in 

                           

plaster paste and spreader

plastering over the punched in nail head

filling gaps with polyfiller. We used plan white filler for dry areas about $6 a tube.

Next it was time to undercoat and paint. Once the undercoat is on, look closely for any more gaps that might have been overlooked prior to painting. Gaps show up really well against the white undercoat.

a small gap overlooked first time around

                          

We decided to fill in the gaps at the back of the shelves to give them a solid look.

                                       

And we also decided to add molding to the top to give a more elegant look.

               

I choose to paint the shelves the same colour as the walls of the room, Resene's Bianca, but used a semi-gloss to make sure the surfaces were easily wipe-able. Two coats of undercoat and two coats of topcoat. I wanted the shelves to blend into the background, rather than to be a contrast against the walls.

I used a microfiber roller and a quality paintbrush for cutting in.

undercoat on 

                                                 

Adding the final top coat.

The final effect

             

Before the sofa is in place, ugly boxes on display

Sofa in place...so much better

Once the sofa was back in place and the shelves filled with my treasures, the shelves look amazing. I am so happy with the final result.

This project required a moderate amount of skill. The hardest part is getting the routing grooves even, I recommend practicing this on some off-cuts. Take your time to fill all the gaps and use a good quality paint brush to achieve a smooth paint finish. The brush really does make a difference. We made this over the course of four non-consecutive weekends. The cost was approx $500 for the MDF, fascia and molding, nails and gap filler. We already had the plaster and undercoat. The paint from Resene paints was bought during their annual 30% off sale at $99 for 4 litres. This is way more than needed, but I plan to use the rest on the kitchen when we get to that area.

Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Have a great week.

Grace