Steampunk Canada

This is something I have been wanting to post for quite some time. I am finally able to share with you a very visual telling of the creation of our steampunk library.

I love our heritage home. It was built in 1899 By Isadore De Poca, a widower, for his new bride, herself a widow. It's a modest home with a lot of history. It was sadly abused and muddled in the 1970's and 1980's as illegal apartments and a flop house. We have been slowly restoring it to its former life as a family home since we bought it in 1996. Having two children and a busy life has made it a slow process, but most definitely a labour of love.

One of the things I had always wanted here was a library. We are all great book lovers. I also wanted a cozy spot to not only read, but also snuggle with the family to watch favourite movies. Of course, it was always planned as a formal library, but with our steampunk fascination it was bound to be eclectic and lovingly odd.

We have a room off the kitchen that at one time was a shed, then a livingroom when the house was cut into apartments, then our daughters' bedroom, and most recently a playroom/office – painted half pink with yellow flowers and half chocolate brown. It was like walking into a container of neapolitan ice cream. One corner of the room had once held a badly constructed closet and shelves – all made of leftover wood and drywall. It was demolished to find the original walls full of holes and different colours of paint.

For many years I schemed and planned my dream library and always envisoned that particular corner with built-in bookshelves. I have a great love of built-in bookshelves and that feature was an absolute must! We are your average family and not made of money, so to make this a reality my amazing husband Patrick worked out a way to build the shelves out of cost effective MDF with wood trims. 

The photos above show the shelves after being built and set into place.  The backs are thin, narrow panelling. The white strips on the sides that you see are shelf standards for moveable shelving.

After a first coat of paint you can see how they begin to look like old wooden built-ins.

The trims are all wood, except for the lovely and intricate top mouldings.  They are actually made of foam!  You can see how paint makes a world of difference.  The walls are painted a pale blue/grey to offset the dark wood of the bookshelves.

After a second coat of paint on the shelves and some serious clean up, we started to add more to the room.

A cabinet was added to house all the computer equipment needed for school projects. 

We were incredibly lucky to find a fabulous steampunk light fixture at Home Depot of all places.  We were amazed and thrilled to find it so easily.

After all the hand built shelves were painted, they were installed and ready to hold the numerous books we had stored in our attic for many years.

We added some comfort, and our most modern piece of equipment for viewing favourite movies and, of course, so the girls could play games....

After the basics were in, it was time to start organizing the best part, the books... and to add fun art, sculptures and trinkets!

Books, books, and more books. 

But what would a steampunk library be without.... animal parts and trains...

... and steampunk works of art (these are by the amazing Brigid Ashwood)

The light on the table is the work of Roger Wood of Klockwerks.  All the gauges, walking sticks and the old suitcase are in the "exploration corner" of the library.

There must, of course, also be a few Victorian elements of mysticism and the occult....

....and a little whimsy.

Finally, this is the top shelf of our corner bookshelves.  We have been given a number of wonderful gifts by friends and family to add to the steampunk library and we have been collecting them here.  (I am still looking for a nice mounted crow for this shelf)

Even those in other countries have contributed to our collection.  Thank you Phil and Kaja Foglio for the great addition to the library.

We are in no way finished with our library.  We will be adding more shelves by the cabinet as we have collected a number of lovely pieces that still have no home. 

I hope you have enjoyed this quick tour of our favourite room in the house.  If you ever find occasion to visit with us, we would be more than happy to enjoy a cup of tea, or perhaps a glass of absinthe, with you in our cozy steampunk retreat.