The arithmetic of bookshelves
Sep. 28th, 2005 08:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ellarienMy study is twelve feet (144") long. Currently the long wall is occupied, from left to right, by a 36" full-height oak bookcase (the one in the icon, actually), a 24" wide stack of computer boxes, and three 28" half-height bookcases. That's 39 shelf-feet, (not counting the two full-height, 36" units on the other walls) and it isn't enough. The computer that came in the boxes is over five years old, so there's no huge problem about dumping them. The small bookcases have been with me a long time, but they're just cheap white particle-board from Habitat, rather battered by three moves.
If I remove the boxes and one 28" unit, that gives me 52" of wall space. Put in a new 36" full-height unit, and that leaves 16", which isn't enough, by 2", for a wooden filing cabinet, but it gets me an extra (3*6*12-3*28)/12=11 shelf feet in the study. Also, I can fairly easily fit the 28" job and its 7 shelf-feet in the bedroom, but that's mystery-and-historical space, not SF. That's a total gain of 18 shelf feet, and an awkward gap I could maybe fill with some stacking storage boxes.
Take out two of the 28" units and the boxes for 74", put in 48" of full-height unit and the filing cabinet, total 66", and there's an untidy 8" left over. Also, I'm not positive I can get 48" of full-height unit. (It can't be more, or I'd be blocking even more of the window.) A 48" wide unit might be obtainable, but the hallway's so narrow I'm not sure it would go through the door; another possibility might be two 24" ones. That's only 10 extra shelf-feet in the study, anyway, plus the file drawer space, and it isn't clear I can hang onto the second surplus 28" unit, so the total gain is probably only 17 shelf-feet.
Lose all the 28" units and the boxes, and I could have a full-height and two half-height 36" ones, 15 extra shelf-feet in the study and 7 in the bedroom, and everything looks neat. Maybe I could get a hutch to go over the desk, too.
Decisions, decisions ... And I'm uncomfortably reminded of the fool in the parable, who wanted to pull down his barns and build bigger ones.
If I remove the boxes and one 28" unit, that gives me 52" of wall space. Put in a new 36" full-height unit, and that leaves 16", which isn't enough, by 2", for a wooden filing cabinet, but it gets me an extra (3*6*12-3*28)/12=11 shelf feet in the study. Also, I can fairly easily fit the 28" job and its 7 shelf-feet in the bedroom, but that's mystery-and-historical space, not SF. That's a total gain of 18 shelf feet, and an awkward gap I could maybe fill with some stacking storage boxes.
Take out two of the 28" units and the boxes for 74", put in 48" of full-height unit and the filing cabinet, total 66", and there's an untidy 8" left over. Also, I'm not positive I can get 48" of full-height unit. (It can't be more, or I'd be blocking even more of the window.) A 48" wide unit might be obtainable, but the hallway's so narrow I'm not sure it would go through the door; another possibility might be two 24" ones. That's only 10 extra shelf-feet in the study, anyway, plus the file drawer space, and it isn't clear I can hang onto the second surplus 28" unit, so the total gain is probably only 17 shelf-feet.
Lose all the 28" units and the boxes, and I could have a full-height and two half-height 36" ones, 15 extra shelf-feet in the study and 7 in the bedroom, and everything looks neat. Maybe I could get a hutch to go over the desk, too.
Decisions, decisions ... And I'm uncomfortably reminded of the fool in the parable, who wanted to pull down his barns and build bigger ones.