Books, And Cases, And Tables, Oh My!

I make a pretty good bookcase. With only one exception, everywhere I've lived since I've been on my own, I've made my own bookcases (one of my SF places had Ikea). The basic idea is, store-bought stuff just isn't going to use the space in the best possible way. When I moved into my place here, I built 4 floor-to-ceiling shelves that fit exactly where I put them, and 3 smaller shelves that ran the full length of a wall, leaving the wall area above it free for video projection.

That was several years ago. Then recently I got the idea to put 3 more floor-to-ceiling shelves in, against a wall that I'd previously been keeping free for art. I'd originally wanted to cover that entire wall with art done by friends, but I only ended up putting a few pieces up there, and it didn't have the feel I'd been going for.

I'd also run into a big problem of where to put all my stuff. I'd moved from a three bedroom apartment in San Francisco to a one bedroom apartment here, and I still had a lot of stuff in boxes, and a lot more stuff that was not in boxes, but instead on my floor, gathering dust and making a mess. It was possible to put all that stuff away, but only if I essentially stored it all in the small closet cubbies that would make everything much less accessible.

A week or so ago I started questioning my use of that art wall. Why not put bookcases against it? Well, the couch would have to move, and the 700 lb compressed-air-powered die press would also have to move. Where would those things go? I didn't know. But the more I thought about it, the less of an obstacle all that stuff seemed. I'm not sure how exactly the decision was made - at a certain point it seemed like the scales just tipped, and I was ready to do it.

A few days ago it also occurred to me that while I was building things, I could add a work table into the mix. This was kind of a revolution in my thinking - it had never seemed to me that any kind of table would even fit in my living room before. Certainly any table in the middle of the room would prevent anything else from happening in that room except some kind of interaction with the table. But my dream had been for the living room to actually be a hangout spot with open air between the sitting places, rather than a table-sitting spot or a repository for vast clutter.

So the idea for the table was really unexpected. But there was a long wall in my living room; with two windows looking out of it, and three bookcases in the spaces between the windows, that might actually work. And if it worked, I'd have a huge table area that wouldn't really take away any space from the rest of the room. Not only that, but the table could double as a bench. The way I envisioned it, it would be incredibly strong, and the nooks between the bookcases and windows would be great for cushioned seating.

Once I got the idea, it was hard to believe I hadn't thought of it before. It was perfect! A lot of my projects required space to spread out, and those projects had been languishing lately, partly because of that problem. It had been really frustrating for me, but I hadn't realized how significant the table issue was until just then. But now I'd be able to do my labanotation research, which really required a lot of space to lay out index cards and many books open to many pages; and I could do sculpture, clothes making, and other art activities, that I realized I'd also been somewhat pining for. If the table was the right height, it would also be a good ergonomic area for computer stuff. All kinds of things were occurring to me that had been mouldering away in my mind, because until then I'd just given up on any idea of having a table in my apartment.

Then this weekend I found myself with no other plans, so I asked my apartment-mate Will (he actually lives in a different apartment, but it's part of the same larger area and we use the same keys) if he was interested in helping, and he said sure! So we spent some time figuring out all the measurements, going over them again and again to make design decisions, and figure out the best way to do everything; and then yesterday we went and got a big pile of wood from the lumber yard.

In San Francisco years ago, when I'd told my friends I was going to build shelves, they were mildly amused. "Aren't you kind of a nerdy computer guy?" Then when I went and purchased all the wood I would need for 9 full bookcases, they became alarmed. "Just build one shelf, see if you can do it OK, and then maybe get materials for the next one!" But no - I got all the wood for all the pieces I intended to build, and then I got busy and built all 9 bookcases in just a few days. I knew what I was doing - my mother had built everything in our apartment when I was growing up, and that included lots and lots of bookcases for my dad's 20,000 books.

So, same thing Saturday. Will and I went to the lumber yard and purchased all the wood for the bookcases and the table, and got it back to the apartment, and got to work. He wanted to start with the bookcases, but I was in a fever to do the table, partly because I'd never done one before, and partly because it was going to be so cool. According to my calculations, it had to be precisely the right size or it just wouldn't fit at all. The bookcases had no such stringent requirements.

There it is! In this picture it's still only resting on about half of the posts; but the far side is fully attached, and very strong. Originally we were going to finish all the building that same day, and then I'd spend Sunday cleaning up and putting everything on the new shelves; but I dropped the 15 foot table top on my toe, and it is 1" birch plywood, strong and heavy, so... ow. But the toe survived. And by then we only really needed to screw the table top into the posts, so Will did most of that while I read Little Orphan Annie (did you know "Daddy" went blind during The Depression?) and helped a little.

There was one very iffy moment near the beginning, when we had to lift the entire table-top and slide it into the slots created by those bookcases, and set it down on the freestanding posts. We really weren't sure, even up till the last minute, whether it would truly fit or not. But it did, and after that, I had the pleasure of walking around and admiring the actualization of a lovely idea that hadn't been part of my worldview just a few days before.

Today we'll finish up the table top and build the three bookcases (they are much easier, with just thin pine and no space issues.

But isn't that table great? Four or five people could do art along it, or sit against the edges of the bookcase and look out the window, or jump up and down on it, or whatever! Soon it'll also have a few coats of polyurethane for splinter protection. Also, those shelves in the bookcases that don't quite line up with the table top, I'm going to remove and set lower down so they're like an extension of the table itself.

And the best part is, the table doesn't really encroach on the rest of the living room. No one would walk through that thin strip of floor; but now they can sit on it and converse and hang out. And for getting stuff off the top shelves of the bookcases (which are several shelves above the top of this photo), anyone can feel confident in standing right on top of the table without it falling or really moving at all. This is a strong, functional, kick-ass table of awesome.