Limed Oak Bookcase

With World Book Day coming up on March 1st, this blog couldn’t be more timely.  Even with the advent of e-books and their counterpart e-book readers, I can honestly say that nothing beats putting one’s feet up with a steaming cup of tea and a good, old fashioned book, selected from a beautifully crafted, Limed oak bookcase.

I was asked by a Mrs R. from Petersfield if I could come up with ideas which would make more use of her living room space.   We opted for a bookcase which was set into the reveal of the window, incorporating a window seat, so she could sit and read with the light coming in from the window.
Limed oak is enjoying a resurgence  and Mrs R.  wanted to match the cabinet work with some of the other limed oak furniture in the room.

 

We made a latticework grille  radiator case underneath the window, designed to allow heat to circulate from the radiator behind.

 

The grille needed to be removable, to allow access to the radiator’s temperature adjustment valve and for bleeding purposes.

 

We formed woven, latticework from scratch, by cutting oak into strips, weaving it and letting it into the panel.

 

Notice the cabinets go all the way to the ceiling, with the coving attached and painted afterwards, to make the bookcase appear to be part of the structure of the room.    The same method was used for the skirting board detail.

 

The shelves are all on adjustable supports comprising small brass pins which fit into small, drilled holes.

This soft-toned, beautifully grained, limed oak bookcase became a wonderfully practical, space saving  solution, which delighted Mrs R. and left her with ample room to display her books and ornaments and even sit with the warm sun on her back and enjoy reading them!

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