What's Your Fantasy?

The one year anniversary of The Day My Life Fell Apart is in a few days, and I have a lot to say to you about that next week.

 

So I have this house I'm (still) trying to sell, and I moved a whole bunch of stuff to storage, which made the house more open. I sit in the house and I see so much potential now that there is so much liberty in the space. The kitchen could do with darker cabinets on the bottom, subway tile on the backsplash, open shelving above the buffet. I have two pieces in my living room I want to refinish and my sideboard in the dining room has been in need of paint for five years. The master bedroom curtains are heavy and oppressive for a space that already has no natural lighting. The master closet is shameful. The backyard fence needs work. The patio needs pavers.

 

Potential. We're just full of potential over here.

 

And there's not a damn thing we can do about it.

 

I find being forced to sit on my hands and leave my house just as it is torturous. Even more torturous is thinking about the fabulousity that I am going to rain down on my next house, the one I cannot buy until someone wants to love on my current house. Whatever it is, I do not know what it will look like, so it's harder to make plans for it. People who cannot plan, look.

 

I'm not on Team Bookshelf. It's a personal choice. I've seen professionals and regular dwellers do lovely things with bookshelves, and I understand that function should sometimes override form. I choose differently. I had one in my bedroom before I bought and painting that hulkish secretary (soon to be listed on Craigslist.) That two to three feet of empty space between the top of the furniture and the ceiling bothers me. It makes my room feel squatty.

 

When I'm puttering around on the internet, imagining the endless possibilities for my next home because I will not have to factor in the tastes or veto rights of another adult, I look at shelving. I do not hold on to books, but I do have that obnoxious collection of blue and white porcelain. And televisions, framed photos, and I like stowing things in baskets.

 

I give you my collection of shelving that is both functional and stylish, according to someone who does not like bookshelves. My preference is built-in shelving that also stores or completely hides television sets, but unless a house comes that way, a single mom budget will likely not allow for the construction and installation of custom cabinetry. However...

 

Pure Style Home

Design*sponge

I'm green with seething envy for those of you, known and unknown to me, who get built-in shelving. A pox on your house.

 

A good stand-by in a room that needs styled shelving is the Billy bookcase from Ikea, which comes with an extension to make it taller. With a coat of paint and some trim and molding, anchored to the wall, it could look intentional in space between two windows, or a wall and window or door. If you really wanted to be fancy (me), you could mount a TV through the back of the shelf into the wall, and hide the cords. Blissful.

 

Centsational Girl

I have talked about using a metal shelving system from Ikea for the boys' room. This Ikea hack of the Vittsjo line is genius because not only was it painted, the glass shelving was replaced with stained wood. It's custom, clearly fits a TV and is kid-friendly.

 

Also Centsational Girl

For me, in living, bedroom or dining room, I have started a furious love affair with rustic meets industrial shelving. You can put them in a nook, or again, between a wall and a door or window, or between two windows:

 

Inspired by Charm

House*Tweaking

My design hero, Jamie Meares. Every little thing she does is magic.  

For my bedroom, I'd take the Jamie Meares version, which also appears to be the most work. Perhaps the simpler iron brackets. I love the bench underneath, to take it all the way to the floor. The depth of the shelves can be custom to the space. And it's a great project for reclaimed wood.

 

Oh send me a home, where my creativity can roam...