Over the last year, the main floor at the Central Library has undergone renovations. Among other changes to the Arts Department, our Special Collection was released from locked cabinets and installed on open shelving in an alcove with comfortable armchairs and a coffee table. The Special Collection books are large and lovely and often so heavy that no one wants to haul them home. Hence the cozy set up.

Sometimes coffee table books lack respect, accused of being long on gloss and short on substance. However, if a picture is worth a thousand words, there is a lot to be gleaned even from decorative page turners with little text. When I explored the idea online, I found consensus that a coffee table book should be interesting enough to stimulate conversation with guests who browse it.

At home, the coffee table is an intimate little space that often includes favourite objects. Pottery Barn offers a demo about organizing an attractive tablescape. House & Home will help you choose the table.

I found lists of favourite books on sites like Style at Home and Van Houte coffee (how appropriate). In fact, our department alone holds so many beautiful and intriguing books that creating a list of favourites would be daunting.

Over the next few blogs my colleagues and I are sharing a few favourites. We hope you will check them out for awhile to your own coffee table world.

When you visit us next, make some time to peruse the tomes that are too large to carry. Or bring a cart or car and take a few home.

Jane

Have you ever had the problem of too many books? Here are the clues: overflowing shelves, truly dusty tomes and piles that make you trip.

You look over and wonder what else you can do with all these dust collectors. Not every title is worth a second reading. To borrow a phrase from Monty Python, some are not for reading, but for laying down and avoiding.

I believe that much of what we condemn to the landfill has potential (check out my end table); so I was happy to discover a new book that shares this philosophy.

Lisa Occhipinti has come up with a collection of crafty and witty solutions in The Repurposed Library: 33 craft projects that give old books new life.

Need a new (and unusual) lamp? How about a shelf to surprise and delight your friends or maybe a whimsical wall decoration? There are plans for all of these.

Some use only the pages, or covers, and still others the whole book. In any case, you’ll always recognize the original form. A number have clever titles, such as the Book Mobile which is an Alexander-Calder-style creation, rather than a vehicle delivering library service.

With all these interesting ideas for your old books, your overcrowded shelves will soon be looking neater.

Valentine’s Day is sneaking up on us and ready to ambush the unprepared. “And the lonely and vulnerable,” added a crusty colleague who happened to read what I was writing.

Perhaps you need to know that I am a cynical woman of a certain age who tends to think of it as a Hallmark holiday. In other words, an event promoted by those with a commercial interest in it.

Now that I have that out in the open, here are three books from the collection that might appeal to your romantic nature.

Simply Romantic Decorating: Creating Elegance and Intimacy Throughout Your Home promotes a romantic style based on ruffles and floral fabrics. If you have a gilded white grand piano, the author will show you how to stage it. Hint: you will need a hand-blown Murano glass chandelier and a fabulous bay window.

You know, sometimes you just can’t take the cynic out of the woman.

Beautiful Bedrooms, a book from the Better Homes and Gardens franchise, offers decorating ideas for the room most often associated with romance. Happily, it’s not all ruffles and flowers.

There is a glamorous room with lilac walls and drapes and a chic rose velvet chaise. Another inviting space offers an understated palette of pale greens, blues and cream. It features fine artwork and a towering tester bed.

Romantic English Homes, a new book by Robert O’Byrne shows the romance that comes to a home with age and a storied past. You get to travel through Austen and Bronte landscapes.

The book offers a layered approach to decorating by people who love to collect things - a style that creates the impression that successive generations have occupied a home. The author notes that this is often an illusion.

But hey, isn’t that what romance is all about?

Today's blog comes from Candace Weir, Central Library staff:

Sometimes a material gets invented that makes it easy and fun to get creative. Polymer clay builds on our kindergarten experience with Plasticine, only there are many more colours and possibilities. The creation gets baked into something permanent. Results can be breathtaking.

As art materials go, it is relatively safe and certainly easy to use and the tools are inexpensive. The material is extremely versatile. It can be used to create stunning jewelry or make decorative objects for your home – anything from sculptures to vases. I recently saw an exquisite little cane-work bowl in the Rubiyat, a shop that specializes in fine handicraft.

We have more than 60 titles in the collection to help you master the craft and inspire new projects. You can learn techniques from books like Polymer Clay 101 by Angela Mabray. Have a look at Amazing Clay Flowers to learn how to make realistic blossoms of incredible delicacy and grace.

A recent article in American Craft (October/November, p. 54 – 61) reveals “How Polymer Hit the Big Time”. It shows the art of Elise Winters, who has worked to establish respect for the art form and the first permanent museum collection of polymer art at the Racine Art Museum in Wisconsin.

Winters creates large luscious jewelry that coils about the wrist and neck in vibrant waves. Works by other artists shown here include an ash credenza with a mosaic-like decoration in polymer clay applied to the surface.

To see more work by the pros, check out the online polymer art archive. Or gaze and drool at the lovely handiwork of Kathleen Dustin.

Candace

Today's blog comes from Janet Millett, Central Library staff:

Here’s my dog Phoebe. She loves a good romp in the snow. However, when the snow is wet and sticky, her curls pick it up and it gets to the point where walking becomes an ordeal. Hence you see the dejected look on her face (despite our amusement!) Perhaps she knew that a bath was in store; it’s the only way to get rid of the ice balls in a timely manner.

It occurred to me that maybe a dog coat and booties would save us both a lot of grief. I’m always keen to take on some new projects as it’s great to have something to do on wintery nights. So with that in mind, I had a look at our catalogue.

Happily I found some great resources. Stylish Knits for Dogs: 36 Projects to Knit in a Weekend offers knitwear that you can customize to your hearts delight.

Pet Projects: the Animal Knits Bible shows you how to create whimsical party collars for your pooch as well as cozy cushions, pet beds and even a blanket for the birdcage.

Vogue Knits for Pets has many other inspirational ideas that would also look great in the home. A dozy-looking beagle lies on a very stylish Fair Isle dog bed. When you make it yourself, you can make sure that it co-ordinates with the drapes.

It’s fun to discover custom-designed solutions for all your pet’s accessory needs. And something to keep you occupied on those cold wintery nights.

Jan Millett

Earlier this year, with the help of a contractor, I updated the bathrooms in my condo with new sinks, taps, countertops and (low-flush) toilets. Although I considered changing the towel bars, I decided that I liked the existing ones well enough. What I really wanted was an additional bar for a hand towel mounted on the side of the sink cabinet.

I could have chosen a fashionable towel ring, but that would have hung the towel below comfortable arm's reach.

Although Totem still carries the older style of towel bar in my bathroom, the smallest size (18 inches) was too long for the hand towels I wanted to hang there. In addition, the position of the toilet would have made it very difficult to install without removing the tank. I soon figured out that it would be fairly easy to cut the longer one down to the perfect size.

You need a hacksaw and a file to do this. Here’s how.

1. Determine the perfect length and mark it on the bar.
2. Wrap a piece of masking tape around the bar, centered over top of your mark.
3. Remark the cut line on top of the tape.
4. Notch the bar with a hacksaw on this mark and then saw through the bar. The tape will prevent damage to the bar if the saw slips.
5. When the bar is cut, remove the tape and file off the rough edges. (Be careful; they can be very sharp.) The end supports will cover slight imperfections in the cut.
6. When you mount the bar according to the package instructions, wrap a thin bead of plumber’s putty inside the end supports (see it in the picture above) to keep the bar from rattling.

The library has some terrific books specifically geared to women who want to learn how to use tools and tackle home improvement projects. (Good for the guys, too.)

Marie’s Home Improvement Guide and Chix Can Fix both describe the use of a hacksaw. A mini-model like mine is an inexpensive and easy tool to master – useful for cutting down curtain rods as well.

Google “using a hacksaw” for helpful sites and YouTube demos like this one.

Today's blog comes from Candace Weir, Central Library staff:

I love to look at books with pretty photos of interesting things: homey things that become treasures that are a joy to use. Things Chinese, a new addition to the CPL collection, is one of those books. It covers objects as diverse as cricket cages and dragons.

Chinese furnishings are some of the most delectable eye candy imaginable. There are door pulls shaped like carp and pottery stools incised with plum blossoms. Pottery abounds; pillows are actually made of it.

If I ever win the lottery, I plan to acquire a collection of Chinese beds: canopy or couch bed – doesn’t matter. I’m thinking a Chinese screen as well – and there will need to be a calligraphy painting to accent them, like one of these by local artist Simon Wong.

How many of us bought our dishes in Chinatown when we were students? My favourite was and remains the rice pattern chinaware with its translucent patterns and blue brushwork. Who hasn’t marveled at the intricate paper cuts, or wondered about the Scholars’ Rocks and wished that we could wear the sleek silk dresses with their clever knotted closures?

My personal collection includes a wedding basket, chopsticks, lots of calligraphy brushes and tea with a purple clay teapot to make it in. I once found a Chairman Mao cigarette case, much to the glee of a chain-smoking relative.

This book details it all.

Candace

“God is in the details” is an oft-quoted saying attributed Mies van der Rohe, the architect of modern glass, steel and concrete buildings.

Charles Faudree loves details too; however, Faudree’s world is lush and layered. He’s an American interior designer whose traditional decor has been featured in prominent shelter magazines like House Beautiful and Veranda.

In his newest book, Faudree zeroes in on the details that contribute to the lavish look.

Think carefully crafted still life of beautiful objects (or, if you prefer, objets). A collection of bronze dogs sits on a rare upholstery-topped table; real life fur-ball, Cavalier King Charles spaniel, lolls nearby on the sofa.

Draperies are trimmed with tassels; lampshades are edged with braid and baubles. Walls are papered or studded with pretty collections of china and dog portraits. In an entrance hall, an antique French floor clock sets the tone.

If you love traditional interiors filled with lots of lovely things, this book is for you.

If you are attracted to the look of pared-back modernism but rue the lack of money and a hip facade, this book’s for you. It’s Lonely in the Modern World is a tongue-in-chic poke at the pretentions of modernism.

Authors Talbott and Quinn created the popular website, Unhappy Hipsters. They borrow slick pics from Dwell magazine, and supply witty new captions designed to deliver “a kick to the groin of misappropriated modernism”.

Anyone who browses Dwell - or other books and magazines devoted to modernism - learns that it is rife with clichés and rules. There are materials favoured whether or not the application is practical. There are vacuous pronouncements from design gurus and, of course, all the right designer labels.

It’s great fodder for satire. The authors will make you think twice about a passion for concrete countertops, exposed ductwork and plywood. You will learn how to eco-speak and choose the right canine for your lifestyle.

Is there is someone lurking about your life dressed in black, wearing young architect’s glasses and a discreet (but edgy) tattoo?

They’ll love it too.

My recent infatuation with 18^th Century Britain began with Mary Delany’s biography by poet Molly Peacock. Delany was an artist who created an impressive collection of botanical collages which are housed today in the British museum. Next came Joyner’s Dream, a novel with companion CD by Sylvia Tyson.

Recently, a friend (and former CPL colleague) recommended Garrow’s Law, a British television series; I was eager to check it out.

William Garrow (1760 - 1840) was an English barrister who transformed the rights of the accused in the British courtroom. At the time of his practice, English society was a rough place, plagued with violent crime. Policing was accomplished by “thief takers” – essentially bounty hunters – who were rewarded by convictions. Conviction brought severe punishment (flogging, branding or hanging) for crimes considered minor today.

The system also encouraged the admission of dubious evidence and severely limited a barrister’s ability to defend a client. It was plagued with political corruption and interference masked by a veneer of formal manners and restrictive social convention. To me, evil in a cloak of good manners is even more sinister.18th Century English life portrayed by Hogarth

Bonus: Garrow had an unconventional personal life that adds romance to the story.

This historical drama reveals both how far we have come and how much things stay the same.

To further immerse yourself in the English society that Garrow inherited, take a look at the many books we have about artist William Hogarth (1697-1764). Hogarth satirized the corruption, hypocrisy and prejudice of English society in works like the Harlot’s Progress and the Rake’s Progress.

Explore the setting of domestic life with The English House by James Chamber and The Town House in Georgian London by Rachel Stewart.