SUPER! SMASHING!

OMG! Don’t you just love smashing things up? Vandalism - It’s the best prescription for when you’re feeling a bit down in the dumps.

Today is Demolition Day. Three years surrounded by flaking plaster, open cable trenches and dirty great cracks is enough for anyone. It’s time to kickstart the lounge makeover beginning with the demolition of the existing library bookcase.

Solidly made of good hard wood from a bygone era when bookcases were built to last and not made from cheapy materials such as MDF or chipboard, it’s a great shame we can’t incorporate this shelving into our new design. Sadly, it’s out with the old and in with the new.

Ripping out the bookcase

What a smashing time I’ve had this afternoon ripping the thing apart. Bang, crash, wallop! I bet the old dear next door thought the roof was caving in from all the noise I was making. And talking of old dears… Rumour has it she’s putting her house on the market. Have our DIY antics driven her out? Har, har, har - I’m sure she’s sick and tired of the endless parade of tradespeople beating a path to our door since we moved here. Well, I know I am!

This bookcase certainly proved to be of much sturdier construction than I thought. Easy enough to unscrew the individual shelves but removing the sliding doors and remaining timbers needed muscle a wimpy old gal like me doesn’t have anymore.

Crikey! Need to blow the doors off!

It’s funny how in order to destruct something you invariable have to figure out how its constructed in the first place. Closely studying how it’s all put together beforehand helped me take it apart bit by bit.

Like that couple in Lincoln who recently discovered a medieval relic during their bathroom refurbishment, I too came across a couple of interesting little finds although not quite as exciting as theirs.

Darling, there's a strange man under the bathroom floor

The first being a signature that looks like ‘Mr Gillian’. It was pencilled across one of the thick sturdy timber battens that made up the door frame. Who is this mystery person? Somewhere in the deep recesses of my brain, a lightbulb momentarily flickered into life. I’d seen that name before but where?

Who is this person and why did he sign this bit of wood?

Aha! I think this might be an answer to the mystery. ‘Mr Gillian’ could perhaps be Mr Gilliam one of the previous owners of this property mentioned in an old conveyancing document held with my deeds.

Frank Norman Gilliam - Is this our man of mystery?

I’d love to think that a person who lived here before made this bookcase. There’s a strange sense of connection – I can almost see Mr Gilliam standing right where I am trying to work out what materials to use and where to position his shelves.

Second discovery was made when prising out the timber sections laid on top of the door frames. Tucked into a small corner, a rolled piece of thin card being used as a spacer to chock up the back of the wood. When unfolded, not a medieval relic of historical significance but an old fag packet.

Park Drive cigarette pack

Perhaps Mr Gilliam had just finished the last ciggie in the box and thought the pack would come in handy to help him level up his woodwork. Brilliant or Bodger? It’s amazing the paper hadn’t completely disintegrated after all these years.

Finally, the bookcase is reduced to a motley assortment of wooden debris ready for disposal.

All done

Ready for the tip

But in case you thought it was curtains for this lovely old piece of built in furniture, we’ve re-purposed the best of the planks to make more planters for the garden.