home improvement: writing nook

This weekend, I added another room to our apartment. It didn't take any construction permits (and trust me, you don't want to see me handling power tools) or even good ol' fashioned magic - just some simple rearranging! I even did it all by myself to surprise my lovely roomie when she came home from work. The cat mostly got in the way.

 

From the first time we saw our apartment, I was brainstorming how we could set up the slightly odd living room. The illustration below will show you what I mean! The previous tenants had their TV blocking the front nook with the couch against the back wall, leaving the entire nook empty and useless (I think they put a litter box back there? Whatever.)

Man, how long has it been since I did an MS Paint illustration of something? ...not long enough, you say?

 

Look at all that wasted space in question mark land! I wasn't about to let a perfectly good nook go to waste. My plan was to put the TV on the back wall and stagger the couch in the middle, leaving enough room to access the nook. I put my desk back there as a kind of console table. Which was cute, but not really functional. So the wheels in my head started turning around and around, like they do. I eyed up the desk. And I eyed up the wall. I'm not especially gifted in spatial reasoning, but I was Pretty Darn Sure that the desk would justtttt fit alongside the outside wall.

 

In a surprise boon, I got some free furniture from my mom's newlywed boss (mazel tov!), and the new bookcase I brought home was just the motivation necessary to do a little switcheroo. Switch switch it went, and suddenly, we had a writing nook/office where naught but "behind the couch" was before!

 

 

I have so many plans for this nook; there's a decorative craft project I'll hopefully be undertaking soon, and I'd love to brighten the space up with more art (Belle is lonely!). Once the weather gets warmer, I plan on repainting the bookcase, so I'll have to start pinning ideas for that! (Right now I'm sort of feeling ombre on the inside? Maybe a stencil? Anything goes!) Obviously we have to decide what sort of things we're going to keep on the shelf - leaning towards more decorative, since just out of sight there are three massive bookcases double-shelved with books with more books in the built-ins AND an entirely separate shelf K is keeping in her room. Maybe I can put some of my pretty coffee table books out (they were banished from the proper shelves for being non-regulation size).

Here's a close-up of the bookcase:

It's a cute pale blue in real life, but it has a few dings (probably from when SOMEONE was trying to haul it in and out of the back of a Nissan Versa...oops) so refinishing is on the list. Oh, and up on top is a peek at an easy and quick "project" - I framed a page from my alma mater's calendar. This one is of the old-fashioned mailboxes student receive their mail in. Old-timey, black and white, a secret personal connection, AND free? Sounds like a winner to me!

As always, pics are from Instagram. Follow me there to see it all in real time!

diy: bookshelf brightener

I've been wanting to do something about my boring old Target bookcase for a long time; it's black when everything else in my room is light-colored wood and it kind of weighs the whole place down, plopped off to the side like some hulking beast. Painting it was a possibility, but that seemed like a ton of effort for a pretty low-quality piece (I was also afraid to sand it and bust through to whatever might be underneath the "wood"), especially since I might end up putting it somewhere entirely different in the future. My first thought was to line the shelves with wallpaper, since all I could find in my price range was gingham and weird old flowers -  all the cute contact paper was hideously expensive.

Why, hello there, shelf liners from TJ Maxx. How are you doin'?

You guys, why didn't anyone ever tell me they sold home stuff at TJ Maxx. Oh right, probably because I would NEVER LEAVE. (Okay, I did leave, but just so I could do a project. I will return! For the deals!)

As soon as I saw this paper, I was in love and I knew that it was time to make it happen. This bookcase was going to get a facelift! Or her makeup done, as is more apropos.

The Before

The During

 All my poor books hangin' out on the floor, like dangerous little stacks of enchantment. I did enjoy having Neil Gaiman staring up at me from the back of American Gods (which is a great book, by the way, one of my very favorites. Check it out!)

The actual process of lining the shelves started out VERY easy - the top shelf comes out! I was able to measure the liner out along the length of it, leaving extra room, and basically wrapped it like a present, just folding the overlap down and smoothing it all out. The liners are the best kind of sticky - not too difficult to handle, but I had no doubt that they would stay in place once they were stuck. The middle shelf was a little trickier since it didn't come out, but the bottom shelf was the real struggle. It goes directly into the bottom of the case, so there's a strange little lip that isn't really deep enough to wrap the liner UNDER, but there's no real way to line it up right (no way for me and my inability to cut a straight line, at least). The good news is that it's far enough own that I don't think anyone is really paying attention!

The Sort-Of After

The Actual After

And ahhh, the books let out a sigh of relief once they were returned to their newly decorated home. All in all, this was a super easy project (like, an hour's worth of time, maybe? I probably spent more time rearranging my books on the shelf than actually putting the liners on) that brightens the whole thing up nicely and is easily removable, in case I change my mind! Chalk this one up for Team Me.