*My internet was down yesterday so here is my belated Day 4 post. 


Our weather has taken a decided turn toward fall today. It’s overcast and only in the 50s. Brr! There will be some warm days here and there but sadly, my porch time is drawing to a close. I do intend to buy a fire pit for the back patio so we can extend our outdoor time a bit but my evening relaxation time is moving indoors and I simply must face that.

Fortunately we have a lovely library which I’m going to cosy up and make comfortable for the cooler months. A few minutes ago I took the photos in this post. I resisted the urge to tidy up anything so this is the way it actually looks right now. I’m basically the only one who uses it. I purposely never allowed a television in here. When the kids were still at home they did use it some because that’s where the piano is. And it’s always been nice to have a room to take unexpected guests. It’s the first room you see upon entering our house and even if other rooms are looking rather “lived in”, the library stays fairly neat.

I’ve never fully utilized this space, though. Oh, I play the piano in there. And sometimes I take a cup of tea and read in the recliner. Part of the problem is that the lighting is poor and the rest of it is that I just haven’t really made it my own. It is easily the most formal room in the house and it really does suit my taste better than the more rustic family room. I love the purple velvet drapes and having so many of my books in one place pleases me. I just need to spend enough time in there to feel that it’s my own little nest.

I sat in there last night and thought a lot about what I need to do to truly make the library a cosy haven for my winter hibernation. Let’s take a look at the pictures and then I’ll tell you what I plan to do.

We bought this sofa in our previous house so it’s about 17 or 18 years old. It’s still in perfect shape because it hasn’t had a lot of use. I have found Shiloh on it a few times, though, so we are trying to train him to stay off. (On his Facebook page it says his name is either “Sweet , Sweet Shiloh” or “Get Off the Sofa”.) The coffee table belonged to David’s grandmother and we found the matching end tables at a local antique shop. The lamps and mirror were purchased back when we lived in our previous house.

The built-in bookshelves were here when we bought the house. They are fairly deep so most of the shelves are two layers of books deep. We bought the recliner when I was pregnant with Lisa so that makes it over 25 years old. Yeah, we tend to keep things a LONG time. We found the little antique desk at a garage sale shortly after we purchased this house.

The china cabinet belonged to David’s grandmother, as did the chair (the rest of the chairs and the matching table are in the family room). Do you see Sweet Shiloh? Yeah, he’s pretty spoiled.

The organ belonged to David’s other grandmother. Remind me sometime to tell you the story of what it took to get it to Oklahoma.

So that’s what I have to work with. It’s a nice size room and the basics are there. It just needs a few special touches. Here’s a list of what I plan to do:

• Find a chair for the desk. The desk is quite small and most modern chairs are too wide to fit under it. I need to measure the opening and then hit the antique stores. I’d love to be able to sit there and write the occasional letter, make notes in my homemaking notebook or perhaps even work on my long-neglected novel.  
• Have David install a hook in the ceiling of the corner near the piano. I am then going to buy a macrame plant hanger for the Creeping Charlie which is currently on the front porch. I’ll also bring in the other porch plants for the winter and put some of them in this room for a little touch of the outdoors. 
• Find a purple throw to curl up with in the recliner. I have a burgundy one in the family room that I love – velvet on one side and furry on the other – and would like to find a purple one like it for this room. 
• Buy a small side table to go next to the recliner. I need a place to set a cup of tea as well as a good reading lamp. 
• Buy a combination coat rack/umbrella stand to go next to the china cabinet. I’ve always kept my coat in my closet upstairs but now that I have a dog to walk several times a day, I’d like a handier place for it. 
• Buy a stand for the electronic keyboard which currently resides under the sofa. It’s Lisa’s keyboard but she doesn’t have room for it just yet. I’d like to spend more time playing music and I think I’ll be more likely to do so if the keyboard is more easily accessible. 
• Buy some more candles for this room.