Winter Project

I always wanted to marry a man who is not only intelligent but also knows how to work with his hands ~ you know, woodworking and that stuff. Jeff just happens to fit the bill. That's why I married him, of course! :) He's very intelligent (he's an electrical engineer, after all); and, if I can brag a bit here, he actually received mostly "Far Exceeded Expectations" on his most recent review! I'm extremely proud of my man. :) But anyway... he also spent a few years in his early twenties working in construction, so he has a great basic knowledge of carpentry, plumbing, electrical, etc etc...

For a long time Jeff and I have been talking about buying/building a mantle around the fireplace in our rec room. Doesn't it look lonely? It really needs something to set it off.
But we also needed to get rid of that boring bookcase and get something that has some character. Then sometime maybe over the summer, Jeff had the spectacular idea of building a custom built-in bookcase spanning the entire wall! He thought it would make a great winter project, and I loved the idea, impressed that he had the confidence to tackle such a big project. We've had fun planning it over the last few weeks. We made a few changes to the original 3D sketch Jeff drew - like giving the fireplace area more space - but here's the general idea:
And today was our first trip to Home Depot for lumber! Here it is in the basement waiting to be primed.
We're planning to paint it white to match all the white trim in the house and to balance out the kitchen's white cabinets which are on the other end of the room. Work will begin soon! I'll be posting pics as things progress, of course. :)