Well hello, extra hour of weekend project time. So glad you’ve joined us. If it wasn’t for you daylight savings, I’m pretty sure our One Room Challenge would still be stuck in limbo instead of sporting some progress in terms of new IKEA Vittsjo shelves. I used that extra hour on furniture assembly this weekend. It had been so long since I had assembled anything IKEA that I almost almost forgot how much fun it is (note the sarcasm). If the landing window wasn’t so small I likely would have shoved the shelving parts through the window out of frustration. Remind me, why do I shop at IKEA again? Oh yeah, affordable furniture. Meet our landing progress:
It’s progressing all right toward our record player/record storage/music zone plan. However, I’m veering far, far, FAR off course from our original One Room Challenge staircase landing plan. Seriously. I should just give up on making plans, although planning is the fun part of everything so why would I ever do that? It’s like Monica Geller giving up her cleaning habits. Or Goose (our dog) giving up squirrel chasing. But back to the landing. As you may remember, the original landing plan included a custom-built cabinet, a tufted chair for Colby’s guitar playing, a little guitar storage, and more. For the record (see what I did there), space planning is not my thing. When we started measuring for the cabinet and sketching up some plans, we determined that everything was just not going to fit. Then came the period of my life this little makeover when I channeled my inner three-year-old and declared the One Room Challenge stupid and that I wasn’t going to do it. I had no idea what to do with the space anymore. Then I came across the Yellow Brick Home’s nook with the IKEA Vittsjo shelves and record player/storage system and it clicked.
The shelves are the perfect size for the Crosley Cruiser Colby gifted me for my birthday as well as for a growing record collection. The Vittsjo is even big enough to hold Colby’s vintage Bose speakers. So out came the tape measure and I measured the space (look for the blue moon folks!) and determined that two of the low, black/brown IKEA Vittsjo bookcases fit oh so perfectly in the landing space. New plan. Nix the guitar-playing nook and just create a pretty place to store our records and play groovy tunes. And by groovy I mean Michael Jackson, CCR, and Hank Williams.
The space still isn’t quite done. I rearrange the objects on the shelves on a daily hourly basis trying to create the right mix of my favorite flea market finds. As you can see, the coral collection that was on the vintage rolltop desk beside the shelves has already been relocated. But there are a couple of lighting projects we still need to tackle. First, the overhead lights on both ends of the hall need to be replaced. The ones currently there are essentially just light bulbs hanging from the ceiling. The ceilings are pretty low on the second floor of our house so flush mounts are necessary. We’re looking for an affordable non-boob light flush mount because those exist (again…note the sarcasm). Rue the day a boob light comes into this house!! Or I spend $300 on a pair of flush mount lights! Although we do have one boob light already…in the guest room…and it’s temporary I swear!
The other lighting project involves the pair of pottery lamps on the shelves that I picked up for $0.50 each at the local thrift store. Yes, fifty cents!
And they work too…love the thrift store “tags” of masking tape. Those folks are efficient with the masking tape tags!
They’re a little dinged up and I was debating painting them although I’m reconsidering a bit. I think they look kind of cool all imperfect-like. But I do have a plan for the lampshades. One that involves an order of 2,000 wooden beads. When one spends a dollar on lamps, I think it’s justifiable to spend $40 on a bulk order of wooden beads to create some shades. Now let’s just hope this project doesn’t flop or you’ll be seeing a lot of wooden bead garland around our house this Christmas.
Angie,
I’ve used these in various places in my home – Progress Appeal lights. They’re attractive and low cost. They also put out a nice bit of light.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Progress-Lighting-Appeal-2-Light-Brushed-Nickel-Square-Flushmount-P3490-09DI/203196802.
Good luck with all work you all have; you’re making a wonderful home!
Thanks so much for sending the link. The non-boob light struggle is real and it’s so hard to find affordable options! These are so cute!