Over the weekend, Kevin and I finally came to the soul-crushing conclusion that we need to get rid of the Expedit bookcase in our living room. It was soul-crushing for me, anyway. After moving it twice, I think Kevin was sort over the whole thing. Basically, our living room is simply too small and dark to have this black, hulking piece of furniture taking up so much room. Plus, we’re both trying to pare down our belongings, to move out of the realm of packrats who are owned by their belongings, and each and every one of those cubbyholes calls out to me in my sleep to be filled with new and interesting bits of nostalgia and kitsch. I can’t do it anymore! Behold, bad cell phone pictures:
Our lounge really isn’t a bad size, considering the fact that we live in a pillbox rancher from the 1950s. This bookcase, as you can see, makes the room look quite a bit smaller and more crowded. Also, it really limits the layout of the room, because it’s impossible to put it on any other wall. And sure, we’ve got cool stuff, and we like to showcase the REALLY cool stuff, but it doesn’t need to be out on display at all times. We want to streamline.
Over the weekend, I came across the shelter blog The Brick House (via Anna from Door Sixteen) for the first time, and I became smitten with her DIY shelving wall unit project. I’m talking deep smit. I love the very minimalist lines, with lots of wall white-space visible. Kevin’s into the idea, although he thinks it might be a little too “industrial” for his taste. Any ideas on keeping the same general concept, but making it a little foofier?
P.S.: You can probably see from the pictures above what I’m talking about when I say that any design we do, until the gross carpeting is replaced with hardwood floors, is basically turd-polishing. Maybe I should put down an area rug to cover as much of it as I can. P.P.S.: If I spent half as much time doing stuff to my house as I do perusing shelter blogs, it would be way further along than it currently is. Maybe I should add that to my list of resolutions. Less convolutions, more solutions.
