The last time I updated you on my bookshelves I believe that this is what I showed you. I finally managed to get all three stained and two coats of polyurethane tossed onto them. We waited until all three pieces were ready to be moved so that we would only have to open the basement doors once.

Remember, this is where they were going. This is our library where Jay’s espresso table sits. It’s where we like to sit with our coffee in the morning, or at dinner before Jay heads to work. It is a cozy room and I loved it. However, I love it even more with the bookshelves installed!

Aren’t they gorgeous!?!?! They almost didn’t make it upstairs! If Jay had made them even a quarter of an inch larger we wouldn’t have been able to get them out of the basement. We finally get two of them into the library and I’m a bit worried… it doesn’t look like we have enough room for the third shelf. Yikes! We had measured the length of the wall and we had 152″. When we had put the three pieces together in the basement they took up 149 1/2″ We knew that we wouldn’t have much room left, but we expected them to at least fit.

We brought the third one up and I almost started to freak out. It wouldn’t fit! We were overlapping by about 3/4″! My mind started racing as I tried to figure out how we were going to make it fit without tearing one of them apart. Then it hit me, “Go get me a hammer and a flat screwdriver.” Jay found the tools and I went to town. I figured that the baseboard took up around 1″ of our space, so I took the short piece off of the wall. It took me a little bit of prying, but I managed to get it off. We were then able to slide the third piece into place. Yeah!!

The first books to go on there were my Civil War books. I have over 300 books on the Civil War, but you can’t tell. I was worried that they would take up more space than what they did. I was so happy when I finished putting them on there. I literally hugged the shelves. I’m serious. Jay witnessed it.

Don’t they look wonderful? I was so happy seeing them at this stage, but I couldn’t wait to get all of my books on there. I was still worried that not all of them would fit.

FINALLY FULL!!!! I have also added more of my Civil War stuff to the top of the shelves. Can you tell? You can’t see them, but I have a battle scene going on with the little plastic figures that I bought at the flea market. Complete with a reserve unit for the Union. lol

I can’t even begin to tell you just how happy my bookshelves make me. I don’t think that Jay can really and truly comprehend the pure joy that erupts in me every time I look at them. I am the luckiest woman in the observable universe!