Sunday, May 24, 2015

Mind blown. Sometimes you have a trapezoid instead of a rectangle.

Cutting three-quarters of an inch off the bottom of the bookcases fixed the height problem.  But as I was installing them I noticed something.  The first shelf went in and one side went further back than the other.  I did some exploratory pushing and things didn't even out.  So I kept on keeping on, which is often what I do when confused during projects. 

The next bookshelf had the same problem, but the amount of space covered kept getting bigger.  "Maybe this back part isn't square?" I mused.  Matt turned around, took one look and said, "nope.  There aren't two 90 degree angles on this end.

It took a while for my head to adjust, but these rulers prove it.  This end of the counter doesn't even measure 12 inches.  If you look at the other end, there is a silver 12-inch ruler that doesn't reach all the way across.  I've been living with a trapezoid and never noticed!

Here you can see how my trapezoid shrinks.  I'm pretty sure this was intentional.  Maybe to make the transition from great room to hallway/kitchen less abrupt.

2 comments:

balyien said...

Interesting that you never noticed before. I'm wondering if it's because one's eye tends to see what it wants to see, or if the builders made it in such a way that a person won't notice. I certainly never noticed it either.

Sara K. said...

How interesting. And surprising!! Well done dealing with the unexpected findings!