Kathie Havemann started collecting books 30 years ago. Today, her collection stands at around 4,700 and includes a wide range of nonfiction. As her collections grew over the past few decades, Kathie’s house appeared to grow smaller. In 2009 Kathie decided to embark on a new chapter in her life. It started as a simple kitchen and master bathroom remodel, but turned into a transformation of her entire house and her life. She turned to Erich and Kelly Eggers, owners of Remodeling Designs and interior designer Beth Spegal, owner of House Dressing Interior Design, to help her create the perfect new home.
In the family room, the window seats serve three purposes. They provide extra seating when family and friends visit, serve as storage containers for her grandchildren’s toys, and help break up the bookcases placed throughout the room. “I told Erich that I wanted every available wall in the family room to include a bookcase, including above the television,” she says. “The bookcases were going to be the main focus in here.”
Spegal says the window seats are the perfect buffer for the bookcases, but she also needed to include that touch of color Kathie wanted so much to incorporate. Usually Spegal says she shies away from painting ceilings, but in this case she thought the dark color would help balance the book collection. “When you have a room full of books, you have so many different bindings, with so many different colors. The blue ceiling really calms everything down,” she explains, adding that the dark blue ceiling was color matched to complement the window seat and television cabinets.