Decluttering the man-cave

Some thoughts on bookly immersion

I have a spacious rectangle, a loft of sorts, above our garage that we affectionately refer to as the “garoft.” You could also call it a man-cave. (Is that one word or two?) An outdoor stairway climbs past a giant Douglas-fir tree to a wrap-around deck and the glass-panel doorway. Inside, it’s a mess.

I’ve been fixin’ ‘er up lately with the idea of creating a marginally more inviting space, a place to sit and think important thoughts, write my Martian thriller, my hiking books, strum the geetar, razzle-dazzle with friends, whatever.

Wall paint, a few light fixtures and a small heat pump have helped. Three hundred pounds of miscellaneous clutter strewn from one end to the other has finally been wrestled to a far corner. I can see the bamboo flooring again. If I close one eye, it’s actually below fifty percent messy now. Before chucking the clutter, of course, I still need to sift through it all (yeah, right).

But this soon-to-be lovelified space also needs to accommodate a modest library of books, some of which I’ve actually read. Like many others I know, I love being surrounded by books. The question before me is how to arrange it all? I want it to feel cozy. Show my friends how organized I really am (not). It won’t be the Reading Room of the Library of Congress, but it’s gotta suffice in one form or another.

I currently use a couple of tall book shelves, some short ones, all full, as well as the tried-and-true approach of piling them on the floor and in cardboard boxes. Somehow it’s not very inspiring to stare at piles of books. Though compared to the chaos at one of our more infamous used bookstores in town, my piles aren’t all that bad.

Importantly, I don’t want to lose any of the floor space I just unearthed, so more three-foot or six-foot-tall book shelves won’t cut it. I thought of adding some lengthy single shelves above window height around the perimeter of the room, but when I stood back and imagined it, it seemed dorky and impractical, out of reach, introducing one more obstacle to reading the unread marvels in my collection.

And then we visited my niece, Jenni, in Utah last week. She and her hubby, James, recently bought a house and went all out turning some basic digs into a truly warm, cozy, artful, vintage-proximate, non-pretentious place to live. They both work full time jobs, so they did it all in their spare time. “I make sure we have a house,” James told me. “Jenni makes sure we have a home.” How cool is that?

Jenni is an avid reader, loves a good story that enlightens or tugs at the heart. And she loves to be surrounded by books. So if that’s who you are, then why not do exactly that? Surround yourself with books! Plant your favorite upholstered reading chair in the center and sail away into another good story. I love the idea, even if she’s out of my league. I have a couple hundred titles. She has a couple thousand.

In essence, every wall of a spare bedroom has been fitted with multiple individual bookshelves stacked from floor to ceiling and from wall to wall, minus the window. Totally organized. A sea of books, with the chair as her little sailboat. James smiles contentedly with his single short shelf in the living room.

I realized that in my case all I need to do is fill one end wall of the garoft with books from floor to ceiling (it’s vaulted), park the taller shelves close by, and voila, I’ll have both the storage I need, the floor space I’d like to preserve, and the man-cave ambience I think that I think I want. So simple. The bookly immersion that I’ve been looking for.

Here’s a pic of what Jenni came up with, though it doesn’t fully capture the immersive feel of the space. I might add that my wife, Kris, has an equally cozy study with her favorite chair and ottoman, while keeping just a modest collection within arm’s reach. She, too, is an avid reader, one of those people who will sit up in bed till two in the morning to finish a good novel.

As for my new vision for bookly immersion, I’ll post a photo once it’s complete, and once the garoft decluttering project is a bit further along. I already have the perfect sailboat, a comfy, upholstered rocking chair and ottoman I inherited from my dad. I can’t wait to sail it away.