Niffer's Library

For as long as I can remember I've fantasized about having a special room for just me and my husband. I always imagined it being full of plants with lots of windows to let the warm sunshine in. My husband and I would just feel more comfortable in the room than anywhere else and we would each sit there (him drinking his coffee and me drinking my tea) doing whatever it is we like to do, but just being close to each other.

There was a part of me that never thought I would have this special room...

... but I do now! It's nothing like I imagined it being. It isn't full of plants and it certainly isn't bright and sunny, but it's even better. And it's perfect for Michael and me. We are now proud owners of a REAL library of our very own and it's everything I never imagined a personal library to be. It makes me think of the old libraries you see in old castles and palaces in Europe, only this one is just the right size for us. And it's ours. I sit in the corner and work on my gnomes, and Michael sits at the computer playing his games. Life couldn't get any better and it certainly can't get any cozier.

You might be asking yourself "A library? What does she mean? And how? And why?" Let me answer a bit aobut that... My mom stumbled upon a garage sale where the lady was trying to sell her grandfather's old library of books one at a time. My mom's heart broke at the idea of all these wonderful books being separated and bought them all on the spot. There are full collections of people like Voltaire, Guy De Maupassant, Walter Scott, Alphonse Daudet, Dumas and Shakespeare, to name a few. All of them are beautifully bounded antique books ranging from 110-150 years old. The photos above probably show 1/3 of the books (the rest are behind these) and though not all of them are in great shape, there are some amazing books. She bought them for a couple hundred dollars and ended up giving them to us. Upon looking online, it looks like these books could be worth quite a bit more (enough that we need to get them insured), but I'm not going to tell you the number here.

So my mom hauled these books over and we were swamped in piles of old books that made our house smell like a real library. And Niffer was happy. We bought ourselves some shelves and arranged our boring office into a library. My grandma's dressor (one of my most cherished things I own*) now sits proudly between two cases of beautiful books (Michael's grandma's anniversary clock does too). I'm sure my grandma is happy.

I just gotta take a moment to give you a better appreciation for the treasure that has been given to us. Look at these gems. These are some of the Voltaire books, and they're all like this - beautiful gold enlayed covers. They're absolutely gorgeous and we just had to display them. No worries... my little Book Worm gnome is there to protect them (that and the fact that we keep the room dark and the sun out.

My special room may not be what I had originally thought it would be. It's not filled with plants or sunshine, but it's filled with something even better. We find ourselves sitting here often and thinking "I like this room. I like it a lot." It's perfect. It makes me happy. And it smells good.**


* My other beloved pocessions include an old steamer dome top trunk from my other grandma and a beautiful bedroom set from Michael's grandma. Perhaps someday I'll turn them into perfect nooks too?

** I wonder if my girls will grow up to think about our little library whenever they smell old books. Wouldn't that be grand if the smell made them think of our perfect corner of the house?