...to want to spend 3k on bookshelves...?

[titferbrains]

before you judge me...

we buy all our furniture on discount it seems, and factory outlets etc. I'n a sale junkie and where I'll spend hours hunting for discounts once we know what we want, my DH tends to spend 3 minutes looking before either getting fed up or buying something nice but not necessarily the best choice (eg cream rug the year before we had our baby. Great. I didn't argue with him because it was in the sale and I'd struggled to persuade him to even come to the shop...)

We also were left a few grands'worth of stuff when we moved into this house, because the sellers were moving to oz and clearly couldn't ship it all.

We have loads of books and I've spent years ogling those fabulous italian style arty cool book shelves and I know we can afford them, it's just that it seems loads because we always get stuff on sale!!!

my hubby works hard and we are comfortable, just think I'm going to struggle to persuade him on this one.

even in solid wood I doubt it would be £3k!

I'd expect some fantastic craft manship and details on my furniture for that sort money. Not a few simple joints and a saw and a tin of paint (ok I'm over simplifying it and DH it tutting over my shoulder at the simplifying of his original trade but still........)

cheers penth. yr library sounsd amazing. didn't know sum of £ was a sin. apols!

LOL BitOfFun!

Really nice solid wood is priceeeee. We've bought lots over the years to build our own shelves. Even if you buy direct from lumberyards, you still have to pay for it to be properly tooled, or whatever (edges rounded, etc.).

A friend of mine has those I am sure its them.you can get them from Nest and they have a sale atm.they look quite intricate irl and I think you are paying for the designer Levy.They have def been factory lacquered as the finish is perfect and not your average painted mdf!I love them and said friend is v up on these things although they are way out of my budget.having said that I have had floor to ceiling cupboards built in a combination of oak and white mdf and they were pretty expensive because of the time involved.

should do the proper tooling yourself then

Haven't read the whole thread, so it's probably moved on from book shelves, but i just had these installed in my stairwell. www.vitsoe.com/en/gb/gallery/at-home/bookshelves/3/1
I think they look fab and cost less than 3k, not much more, but you can configure them as you wish, which gives you more flexibility.

Oooh, look at the size of these

I like those bertieboo.I don't see the problem with spending 3k if you have it and you love something. Wood is lovely but not always the right thing for the job esp if there is a lot of other wood in teh room.

Good point, FAQ. Need to go back to carpentry-school. [pencil behind ear emoticon]

Don't let him hint - make him do it! Sounds great!

A hand built kitchen lovely!

They look pretty run off the mill actually.

Just a shelving unit with "square holes" - much like you can get in Ikea.

You may save a lot of money on getting proper bookshelves from Ikea.

Personally, I love the white Billy range with glass doors. Inexpensive, suitable for BOOKS actually, and protected behind glass doors. I think they look classy and fab....

check it out billy but change it to white

oh I will make him do it - don't worry - we just need the money first, and need to replace the boiler and update the central heating system first LOL.

He left college with a first class pass - meaning that had he gone on to work in the business (he didn't he went onto teacher training afterwards) he would have been qualified to be foreman in any building type job in Zim.

He made me a gorgeous spice rack when we were still in Zim - made from "scraps" of wood from the wood workshops at the school we worked in.......had to leave it behind though as it wouldn't fit in the suitcase and wasn't a "priority" thing to bring >>>

bitofun they're mdf too! i know that mdf itself is cheap but if all the high st shops stock dull furniture made of mdf then you have to pay a bit more for someone who's bothered to design and make something interesting with the stuff, no?

Sometimes mdf is the best material for the job. It depends on the shapes you need etc. Can't see the problem if you are going to paint or lacquer it tbh.

sorry but i do think they look lovely in solid wood here

I am finding that furniturs is a real pita. we need some storage for dd's toys & some books. we're hoping to find something that looks nice, can hold wicker storage baskets (with ddd's crap piled into it) & doesn't cost the earth.
apparently, we're hoping for too much!

even pottery barn, which would cost us about $2000 is really just posh mdf, and you have to put it togehter yourself. for that much money, i want it delivered & fitted!

Does anyone else think the Indian bookcase FAQ linked to looks like one of those (here goes, too lazy to check spelling) Hieronymous Bosch pictures?

I think that if you want it and you can afford it and you will enjoy it, you should get it.

Only thing I would say is that it doesn't look like it has a back. Will stuff fall out?

Agh, FAQ, I didn't mean him anyway!

Who did I mean?

The drawings when the steps seem to go up but go down instead?

God what a moron I am...

oh I know the pictures you mean - wouldn't have a clue who drew them though

M C Escher

I really liked that, but wondered how ti'd look if it was actually being used, and some of the space looked hard to fit things into.

but it did look pretty

Escher

I think they are fab and if you can afford them get them.

And this is from someone who has just been made redundant. I don't begrudge other people their money.