Thanks - I said to him the other day to make a fixed shelf the same height as the windowsill (stool) for continuity, and definitely an adjustable/removable under that, and then I have to figure out how many above. I want the adjustable ones to vary by about 3" (don't know if he'll do continuous rows of holes or a recessed standard, those details are up to him) so I can fit big picture books and smaller novels (paperbacks? Though we don't have many) and then when DD is past the picture books we can adjust the shelves lower and fit more normal-sized books. The folding bookshelves we have have the shelves set 12" apart, have plenty of room for most things but not the big picture books, coffee table books, or 3-ring binders (which I don't know how often we'll store downstairs, they belong in the office, but who knows?). Do you think 10.5" - 14.5" between shelves is good? I would have the bottom of the bookcase at 4.5" above the floor with 3.25" baseboard wrapping around, then adjustable shelf at 10.5" - 14.5" above that (15" - 18" above floor), fixed shelf at 27" from floor (so 9" above highest position of lower shelf), then from there to top (about 94" from carpet - he'll have to measure from subfloor) we'll have 6 more shelves adjustable in 10.5" - 14.5" increments with I'd say a 5" frieze board (middle arched) at the top. I'll have him play with the frieze board height after I find some pine CM I like. We can always cut the number of top shelves to 5, for a total of 6 adjustable and 1 fixed shelf plus the bottom of the bookcase would give us 16 linear feet (varying heights) of shelf space per bookcases. Think a fixed shelf a little lower than 1/3 height will be stable enough considering 1/2" plywood back screwed to the stud at open edge, and wall anchors on the other side (butted into corner)? I think 32 lf of shelf in one room would be enough considering that between the study and DS's room (not counting his headboard or printer stand) we have 35 lf and that held all of DH's and my books before we moved, DD now has 4 lf with the Goodwill bookcase and she can also use her nightstands (about 1.5 lf each) if she is keeping books in her room, but most of her stuff ends up downstairs. If I prime and paint the plywood before he puts the backs on (I'll see if he can do the sides, top and bottom and the fixed shelf, then let me stain it before he puts the back on) it shouldn't be too hard. It's just going to be repainting it in place that'll be tough, but hopefully the FR will stay this color for a long time and we won't even see scuffs inside the bookcase if we fill it. Do you know if I can use my latex wall paint over an oil-based primer? I don't want to use latex primer on plywood and have it bubble and peel.

Thank you to everyone for all the thoughtful replies! I agree that I shouldn't feel pressured just because there is a sale and normally, I'm not impulsive at all when buying furniture (which drives my husband crazy because I take forever to make decisions!) However, I've never purchased furniture from Ethan Allen before and my understanding is that it rarely goes on sale. With the state of economy, perhaps that is changing. Some of you suggested that I get a quote on a custom piece like this in a painted finish. I did have a number of an Amish carpenter and contacted him today about this so we'll see what happens! I'll keep you posted. Thank you so much to everyone! I appreciate your advice and if anyone has any additional input, I'd love to hear your opinons! This is a great website and I hope to start visitng more often again!

When I redid my DD's room I tried to get all pieces with the Duncan Phyfe style pulls; but when I painted the pieces I discovered much of the hardware was really cheap (not brass). Once I painted I figured I was drifting away from the concept of keeping it in the original condition and decided to go one step further and sprayed all the hardware with Rustoleum to keep it all cohesive. I used a hammered nickel finish, but for your purposes, if you want to stick with ORB, then I should just spray the knobs on the dresser with ORB--so different style, same finish between the two pieces. As you are going with a vintage/collected look I don't think it has to all be matchy-matchy as long as there is some cohesiveness between them it will be OK.

Thank you all for the helpful input! I'm still mulling it all over. I'll think about it and look around, and then put it on the backburner - then start the thinking process all over again. Just not sure WHAT we want to do, and I'm not even sure if I will be happiest with floor-to-ceiling bookcases, or counter-height bookcases running along one wall. I still love the collected look of Jane Fonda's gallery library too ... Although when I showed DH three oak bookcases that were going together on our CL recently (one in the middle taller than the two on either side, which were barrister style - would have lent itself to the Jane Fonda look, I think), he quipped, "What are you gonna do? Open a cigar store?" So clearly he has a different take on slightly mismatched cabinetry than I do. We've nixed the CL bookcases as we aren't sure we could easily get them up the staircase and then do the turn on the landing to get into the reading room. Having to hire movers adds a whole new problematic aspect to purchasing a large CL unit too. Building them in the room would certainly be preferable, so I'm going to keep thinking about how to do this. And trying to figure out exactly what I want in the room!