Book Shop in a Bathroom?

"I Need Some Privacy, I'm Reading"

I'm not even quite sure where to begin with this one. Not too long ago, I was visiting a local bookshop in my hometown, and went up to the second floor of the shop. The religion, philosophy, and biographies are held on the second floor. But there's also a section on science and history. I'd never paid much attention to the little old room at the end of the hall. Yet, for some reason, on one visit to the shop, I saw a sign that read "more books" with an arrow pointing down the hall. So I followed the sign. To my great surprise, I noticed that there was a sink and a shower in the room full of bookshelves. I guess I thought it was something simply out of use--a repurposed room. But then I realized, it was just plain quirky! When I went over to the sink, I noticed that there were personal effects on the counter around the sink, including a shaving brush, a razor, toothpaste, and a prescription mouthwash! It turns out that this was actually the bathroom of the owner--not in use during store hours, obviously!

The room adjacent to the bathroom with the shower and sink actually is a little toilet room. And you can see from the photos that it's a real toilet. I was tempted to flush it and see if it worked. I'm pretty sure it did. I mean, there were razors and toothpaste that seemed to be recently used...so why not this toilet? I've seen some pretty interesting and creative uses of spaces in my day, but this is perhaps the most curious and ingenious (if you want to call it that!) It does prompt one to consider the boundaries of private and public, of the personalized home space and that of what your clients see. Though I find this to be a great little shop--O.U.R. it is called (as in "Old, Used, Rare")--I'm still scratching my head at the anomalous nature of this place, though. It has beautifully crafted shelves, and a broad and intelligent selection of books. But selling books in your bathroom? That's a wholly other level of thinking--one which I'm not sure I'm prepared to encounter! Imagine going to your bakery and having the table double as a bed? Or going into the hardware store and having a kitchen behind the shovel rack? I'll leave you with these delightful and magical photographs...for your bibliographic consumption!