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Greetings and salutations. It is I, Graham.

We are going to take a different tack for the next few posts, and step away from our book, and indeed, from our writing. Clevenger and I decided to have a bit of fun, and delve into some “what if” topics to uncover a bit of our less defined personal traits. So today’s topic is:

What would my ideal home office or library look like.

Interestingly enough, for me they would be the same room. I have found that I do my best typing on a desktop, but paradoxically my worst writing when i have internet to distract me. So I really want to set up a small desk in the corner of a home library that would have a simple desktop, maybe overlooking a nice view, that is not on the home network. Just a nice standalone machine. I’ll have my regular computer in a more active part of the house.

Now I do have fanciful designs for what an ideal home library would look like. First, it would be part of a two story house. This is important, because I want the nice centralized sitting room upstairs to lead off to a cubby, which opens onto a balcony running around the top of the library. The upstairs balcony portion would of course have floor to ceiling book cases encircling the upper landing. These upper cases would primarily display collectible cover editions, older, more valuable editions, and other display pieces.

There would be a nice antique metal spiral staircase near to the cubby entrance which would lead down to the lower, main floor. Likely the door to the library would open to prop against the spiral staircase. On the main floor, floor to ceiling bookcases would line three walls, including that with the door. The fourth wall would be a grand floor to ceiling window, with heavy drapes tied to either side, overlooking some grand vista. The books here would be separated on one side by hardback editions, while the other side would house my army of paperbacks.

This room would, of course, require 10 foot ceilings, even if they were created by taking some height from the upper balcony. The room would, of course, need a rolling ladder to service the upper shelves. I imagine that in addition to the computer desk, the room would require a pair of soft, deep armchairs, both with small end tables with reading lamps and drink coasters, as well as a fainting couch for a couple to share as the lose themselves in their chosen books.

The idea of this room would be to combine an utterly comfortable reading experience, with an environment that encourages a sense of awe and wonder at what books can provide. I would write while surrounded by books, hundreds and thousands of books, with a wondrous view of both man’s order and nature’s chaos. And I would read in the same environment, surrounded by the love and sacrifice that has been poured into every page surrounding me.

This, my friends, is the library I dream of one day owning.

Don’t forget to love one another.

Graham.