One of my favorite pieces of furniture ever--quite possibly my most favorite piece of furniture ever--is this big grand beautiful "Beauty and the Beast" bookcase that we bought over ten years ago when we lived in Iowa. It's a gorgeous piece with its elegant crown moldings, solid mahogany wood, ladder and rail, and recessed lighting. The bottom doors open up and contain more shelving storage, so in addition to being an elegant beauty (and kind of a beast as far as size goes--get it? 😉), this bookcase holds a lot and is extremely functional.
Similar to the beautiful four-poster mahogany bed that I had planned to keep forever (along with my husband 😒), I thought this bookcase would always be in my life. But I started to see the writing on the wall with the impending divorce and the subsequent necessity of moving to a smaller place, which I'm now getting ready to do. The drawback of this bookcase is that it doesn't fit in most homes. It's not going to fit in my new one, unless maybe I don't use the bottom drawers (it comes in two pieces), but even then it would take up a lot of space, and space is going to be at a premium there. I've considered putting it in storage in case I'm able to get a house in the future that can hold it, but again, is it worth it to do that? Part of me says yes, but the more practical side says no, it's time to let it go. So unless I get struck by a lightning bolt of inspiration about how or why to keep my beloved Beauty and the Beast bookcase in the next few weeks, I'm planning to part ways with it and sell next month. 😟 I'm going to miss it so much.
It holds my collection of vintage Nancy Drews...
...my collection of classics (which is way bigger than this BTW)...
...my tribute to England and Paris, two places that I very much want to visit (side note, my DNA proves that England is a significant part of my genetic makeup and is therefore part of my very soul)...
....and sweet motherhood knick-knacks like these...
It's me and the boys for both of these owl things! What great flea market finds these were.
I had to clean out, pare down, and stage this shelf for selling the same way that I staged the office bookshelves. I'm pleased with how it turned out.
This is one of my favorite spots, a little owl habitat!
The coordination of colors between the picture plaque and the two books next to it pleased me greatly. 😁
Without the ladder
As promised in yesterday's post (I know you've been waiting eagerly for this 😄), here are all of the books that I removed from my collection and donated. They're books I either never read and am finally ready to admit that I'll probably never read, or books that I read once and don't feel a strong desire to read again.
I think I did pretty well at culling my collection!
I took pictures of two of the books I was "re-homing" because they reminded me so much of specific time periods in my life, which is one of the reasons I've held on to books--for the memories they elicit when I look at them.
This is the book I was reading during my honeymoon to Prince Edward Island. A thrilling, easygoing read for a honeymoon, I know. 😂🤷
This is from when I was a young mom of young kids and had plenty of disposable income from my husband's well-paying job. I was indeed "living the posh mom life"! It was fun while it lasted! 😆
This bookshelf fits so perfectly in this family room, and it fit perfectly in our Iowa house too. It's been a beautiful backdrop for our family life for over a decade. I will miss its presence in my home and in my life, and I sincerely hope it will end up in a beautiful, happy home that deserves it!
