Saturday, January 30, 2010

Where to put it all: Part 1

I wanted to share one of the central design elements within our home: the tops of our bookshelves. When five people share a small apartment, and especially when several of these people are the tiny, grabby sort, the placement of collectibles or other treasured possessions sometimes has to be rethought. So, when storage space is limited, go vertical! (Within safety limits, of course).

Here's the top of one of our tall bookshelves. Don't worry, it's been checked for stability. I think you might notice that one of our collections is old books. I bought the old clock today at a nearby antiquities shop called "50 Hats." Rob thinks he might be able to get it going again.

And another bookshelf top:
Inside the jars are memorabilia from places we used to live or treasures from vacations, complete with the sealed air from that time. One jar holds a dried four-leaf clover. The tins hold collections of crystals and buttons. Again, Rob's old books reach up like Rapunzel's tower. But the shelf is very safe, really. It not about to fall on little people (or me).

Rob had originally left this bookshelf top nearly empty, leaving it uncluttered and highlighting the mirror. But I decided it looked odd next to the other bookshelves in the room. Anyway, I like the way the books on top offer a contrast to the mirror. It's no longer the central focus. I'm not too keen on the magazine holders, but decor is generally a work in progress. They can (should) be moved.

What you're not seeing are the bottom shelves, which are similarly loaded with books. With the first two bookshelves, these are mostly kids books. We also have two other bookshelves in bedrooms, but I wasn't so happy with how the tops of these are being used and didn't want to share!

How are the tops of your bookshelves being used? Maybe we're not the only ones with strange storage options...

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