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Fitting the library
My wife and son are real booklovers, she has been collecting books for a long period and in her collection she has a large number of very rare and collectable examples
I like especially the leather bound ones, as they look very distinctive
So when we did the house refurbishment it was a given that we were going to have a library, a place to show off her books, but also a place to relax and sit down to read a book – for me just a place to sit down and read the Sunday paper.
So the room will have no TV (probably the only room in the house without one) but will be hooked up the Nuvo sound system for nice background music
So my wife has been looking at ebay for about 2 years for a suitable library, one came up about a year ago, it came from a house in London that got refurbished and they were selling of the units together with 18m of wall panelling, all oak, so a truck load later it all was unloaded in my lock-up ( the garage of my mother in law who lives just 2 minutes away from me. So 2 weeks ago I started to fit it all – sounds easier then it is, but is it
This is what we bought

Off course the room it came from was not the same size as it was going into, neither was the shape the same, so it needed some changes to the layout. The best thing about quality cabinets is, you can take them apart and change the configuration – without breaking things.
We started on the left. This run was to long by about 300mm and would block the entry to the room – so that is not going to be, luckily the unit was a 600 unit so it was easy to shorten that by 300mm

Don’t despair love we can make this work

Like I said, we can make this work, shorten the base, and shorten the unit – fits like a glove
So we continue the run around the corner and refit the counter top, which was to long as well, so I had to shorten that one as well by 300mm
Here the first top unit placed (not fitted)
We also added electrics to the units (you never know and better done now then – later when it’s going to be much harder

So here all the top units fitted and the corner unit made smaller by 300mm Well everything worked out fine except we are about 310mm short on the run at the back wall.

No problem – the material that I cut off the other unit is perfect for making a new 300mm unit and the counter top fits perfect – result!
That leaves just the space above to complete

But again what I cut off on the left side gave me enough material for the left side, even the shelves were a perfect fit
Then the cornice, I was not happy how they originally done that – it was crap. So I completely redid that
First put a 100mm upright base all around the unit (screwed from the top)

Followed by a secondary base of again 100mm

Cornice fitted – it surely helps to have a large cut-off saw to the cornice fits in to make the mitre cuts
The cornice is build up out of 3 pieces, first on top the large cornice (which is build up out of 6 pieces) the underneath the large one is a Scotia moulding and then a flat moulding
So that is the big unit done so now the other side of the room
There were a few spare units – which were of a different quality (crap) and size, and we thought of this L shape configuration
But that was a No No – so it was to build from scrap – yes scrap material - took some other units down and utilized the oak from that to build 2 new ones

That is one

And that is 2

I had enough material to also do the architrave around the door

Units fitted in the alcove, and as we had lots of panelling, I thought it would make a nice feature
Cornice fitted

Yes – I know that fire surround doesn’t look good – nice as it is, it just doesn’t go with the white oak

Problem solved

Just build a new one

How does that look??

Finished

Yesterday the carpet got fitted so this is how it looks now –
What is still have to do is
- fit the doors, but they are waiting for the glass.
- Fit a number of mouldings next to the panels of the build in (the only thing I have to buy additionally)


Thanks for looking



Flickr links removed. Pics attached. Mod 2.

Top work and looks great!

Be very interested to know what you paid for that second hand. Hard to tell from the orginal pictures but I would have thought the original works would have been somewhere between 20-25k assuming it isn't a name

Yep absolutely fantastic mcluma!!! Refits can be a nightmare...Love the way you made it all fit with some nifty fabrication Very much like what you did with the fireplace as well...That was a brave job and you really pulled it off...Brilliant! A well deserved slap on the back there..

I'm also cheekily curious about the price and how long it took in total?

Thanks for posting so many pics

Wes wrote:Yep absolutely fantastic mcluma!!! Refits can be a nightmare...Love the way you made it all fit with some nifty fabrication Very much like what you did with the fireplace as well...That was a brave job and you really pulled it off...Brilliant! A well deserved slap on the back there..

I'm also cheekily curious about the price and how long it took in total?

Thanks for posting so many pics

How long it took - fire place one day, the rest about 7 evenings, most work was all the fidely bits like the skirting and corniece

price - rather not disclose, as it could upset some people

Great work the pair of you, the finished article is fantastic.

So the fire mantle you took out, has that gone into stock to be reused or is it firewood?

Chop wrote:Great work the pair of you, the finished article is fantastic.

So the fire mantle you took out, has that gone into stock to be reused or is it firewood?

I took it out and is now in the dining room, fits like a glove and matches the diningroom furniture perfect

It isn't top notch bespoke furniture but if it were the same build quality that I used to fit, then the set up in Pic MC36 would have set you back around 35K and that is going back about 12 years.

You have done a very nice job of taking something out of its designated space and adapting it to fit the space that you have for it.

It looks extremely nice.

Excellent project mcluma. Looks fantastic and is sure to have added a lot of value to your home.

Lovely work

Nice work but you could have got kindle cheaper

lockie wrote:Nice work but you could have got a kindle cheaper

Ahh, but not the real leather bound version.

Gotta take my hat off to that mate. A real nice bit of work there, hope your proud of it.
Best buy the mrs a new feather duster for all them books!

martyn1967 wrote:Gotta take my hat off to that mate. A real nice bit of work there, hope your proud of it.
Best buy the mrs a new feather duster for all them books!

Most of the books will be behind glass doors, I have currently the glass cut, so hopefully in the next week or so, the doors will be back on