In our new abode, over the garage, is a loft. It’s not terribly big, but it will fit my needs as an office / private space. There is one drawback to it – it’s an A-frame roof, meaning the interior of the space is limited by the steep angles of the roof coming to a point.
It is currently filled with boxes of my books, waiting to be unboxed. I have one or two small bookcases up there, along with two spinner towers I rescued from one of the bookstores I worked in, oh so many years ago. They originally held audiobooks but I found that mass market paperbacks will fit in the holders so I can get about sixty (60) or so books on each one. My desk, a drafting table, a filing cabinet and an old table that came with the house round out the furnishings.
Back to the slanted ceiling parts.
I was thinking that it might be useful to put shelves on them so I can put books up. If I put standard shelves up, I run out of space as I go higher up towards the roof. The shelves would get smaller as I go up. Also, they would stick out and take up space from the center of the room.
I was pondering this and came up with an idea that I think has some merit. I’m not exactly sure how to build them just yet but here is what I’m thinking.
I would need two ‘rails’ that get attached to the slope of the ceiling. I would have two arms that attach to the inside of the rails, so it would look like two boards next to each other. They would be connected by a rod at the top so the inner boards, the arms, could swing down. At the bottom of the arms would be a basket to hold the books. I’m thinking the basket would be similarly connected to the arms the way the arms are connected to the rails so it can swing freely. The final piece would be a small piece of wood on the bottom of the rails that can turn. When the arms are in the ‘up’ position, against the rails, I can turn the piece of wood on the bottom of the rails to hold the arms in place. When I want to bring the arms down, I turn the piece of wood so it is under the rails and the arms will be able to swing down.
I’m thinking this would give me more room as the bookshelves would be able to go flat against the sloped ceiling when I’m not using them, and come down and forward when I want to get a book.
In addition, I came across this YouTube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45JhacvmXV8) about building furniture and things out of cardboard. If there is one thing I have right now it is cardboard, LOTS of cardboard. (Remember all those boxes of books that I mentioned are sitting in my loft right now?) This method would take some prep time, and I don’t think I would need to waterproof the pieces as they do in the video. But it would be cheaper than going out and buying plywood and planks to build the shelves.
I can clearly picture in my mind what I want. I’m going to need to do some measuring of the space. I’ll see if I can draw what I have in mind just for my own clarification if nothing else.
Yes, yet one more project on my never-ending list of projects, my Hordeling. This one at least is more practical than most of the others.
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