Repurposed Rolling Library Ladder
Last summer, we saw a post on Facebook from one of our favorite places for antiques. They were selling old industrial rolling ladders.
As a child watching Beauty and the Beast, seeing Belle roll around a book store on a ladder became the focus of a dream: To one day own a personal home library big enough for a rolling ladder.
Is our library big/tall enough for one?
No.
Did I absolutely need to own it, though?
Yes.
We loaded up our family and drove the hour and fifteen minutes south to pick it up. And then it sat in our front room for the next eight months because we were up to our necks in other projects.
My husband finally was able to carve out enough time last week to get this little lady ready for her new home. Basically, I’m in love.
We had to trim the ladder down to fit in our cottage. Because it was originally an industrial warehouse ladder, it didn’t really roll the way we needed. Thankfully, my husband was able to customize it to suit its new home.
I gave him the blessing to stain it using some Minwax gel stain we had on hand from another project. But I really hated how dark it turned out. We stripped it all back down via sanding, and I actually love how some of the stain remained in the grooves of the wood grain.
Eventually, we will build up bookshelves to the ceiling. Getting this ladder installed ahead of bookcases may be a little like putting the cart before the horse. But our little ladder to nowhere is my new favorite feature in the cottage.
