Dear Inexpensive Mason Jar from Walmart,
I am staging a vacant house for sale and need bookshelf filler for a gazillion shelves. I need to do it on the cheap.
Sincerely,
Jen
Dear Jen,
Do this:
Sincerely,
Inexpensive Mason Jar from Walmart
John Williams
Sitting on the computer listening to the “French Cafe” channel on Pandora it dawned on me what I need, a full orchestra and a composer. Here’s why. I would always know what to do, be motivated to do it, and I think it would be funny.
You see the news has been sickening. And crazy as this is going to sound I do NOT live in a Disney Princess movie, meaning, well, there is not a fairy godmother zippity do dahing all over the place over here. The positive spin is not always so easy to do. However, I could achieve this positive spin ever so much easier if I had a full orchestra narrating my day. When you watch a movie the soundtrack is the backbone of what you are suppose to feel. Think Chariots of Fire. That music is so uplifting I could even run fast and far. Commonplace activities could somehow become epic. Mission Impossible? Oh yes I can make that deadline. Mad dash out the door? No problem here, I’ve got snare drum and a flute accompaniment.
It would be like having a body guard too. Afraid to go in the water? Not if you get a head’s up from John Williams (Jaws). Thinking about going into the boiler room at night? What’s the music telling you? How about taking a shower at a creepy motel? Oh wait, is that a screechy violin? See this is really working.
And then there is, well, in the immortal words of John Mayer: By the time I recognize this moment, this moment will be gone. Not if I have my full orchestra and composer. A film’s soundtrack (and I wiki-quote) is comprised of cues which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to enhance the drama and the emotional impact. I would never miss a moment. Orchestra swells and, well, no lack of moment recognition here. I’m really trying to come up with examples from movies. I’m stuck. Just watch one. There are a lot.
So say you are sitting typing on your laptop at the dining room table. Pretty boring, right? Wait–that’s what I am doing. Not when the french cafe channel is on (imagine if the music were live). I’m in France. I’m in Paris. It’s the 1920’s.
I’m dressed like Daisy from the Great Gatsby.
The Great Gatsby
I’m out on the town. In Paris.
Midnight in Paris
Maybe Woody Allen is there?
Midnight in Paris
An orchestra, a composer and my own director?
Wanted: Full Orchestra, Composer, and Director. Enough said.
Now things are getting interesting…
So this is Bookshelves 201. If you are here and haven’t taken Bookshelves 101 that is fine. I really think next semester these two courses should be combined. I’m going to go over some important points to consider that are pertinent to 101 so you should be just fine. Just in case, here is the syllabus for 101, Styling Bookshelves for Normal People Part 1.
Important Points to Consider when Arranging Bookshelves/Built-Ins:
1. WHERE is it located? IMPORTANT. If it someplace you stare at all the time i.e. next to your TV, do not fill it with everything you own.
Just because you have it does not mean it needs to be displayed.
Just because it cost a lot of money does not mean you need to display it or keep it.
Just because it was a gift does not mean you need to display it and stare and it constantly (especially if you don’t like it.)
Just because you don’t know what to do with it does not mean it needs to be displayed, or kept.
Is it a relaxing room? Why are we staring a shelves full of work? Is it an office? Why are we staring at decorative objects when all of your “work” is piled on the floor and desk?
Is it a cluttered, “chock full of kid” room, busy hub of the house room? Visual Clutter, click here, for that syllabus. MINIMIZE THE CHAOS in bookshelves and built-ins in these rooms with books and one other simple category. Images with ideas following below.
2. What colors are in the room where the book-case or built-in is located? Use those colors when deciding how to tweak. Don’t bring in new colors. You want it look seamless in the room.
NEXT. A word or two about ARRANGING.
It’s all about balance. If something is big and heavy on one side….you need to balance it and have something big and heavy on the other side. Think of a see-saw. Balance. Same with the colors. Red on one side. Red on the other side.
Tall stack of books on one side. Tall something on the other. AND a good tip is to make sure everything is using about 2/3 of the vertical space of each shelf.
Ok here are some visuals:
I think I went on a family vacation to Kentucky in 1979. I was 7 years old. I could have the year all wrong. I’m writing this on a whim and my parents are not available for comment/confirmation so this story is unconfirmed. (I would be a lousy reporter.) Anyway, this is significant to me for today is the Kentucky Derby.
I think it is crazy how we remember so little about our childhood except for random details. This is one of the details I remember. It was summertime and hot. We went to a horse race at Churchill Downs and bet on a horse. I don’t remember if we won. I watched a horse get its horse shoes put on. We bought a horse shoe full of dried mud and it hung on my pink wall in my bedroom for years. My biggest joy that day was picking up all the ticket stubs off the ground…betting stubs? They were all sorts of colors–purples, oranges, yellows and speckled. I kept those things for years. To me, as a child, we had just seen the Kentucky Derby (it wasn’t). I remember loving it. It was hot, humid, dusty, and green. We bought a glass that had all the winners written on it and I remember Secretariat’s name. I thought it was a crazy name and could not understand why there were no horses named Rainbow Connection. To me that was an obvious pick.
My parent’s still have that glass as far as I know, again, this story is unconfirmed. Every year as long as I can remember we had a Kentucky Derby “Party” at our house with me, my mom, and my dad. It consisted of a yellow black and white TV being put in our green sun room (with extension cords) and maybe having hamburgers on the grill and a special drink in that glass? Details are fuzzy. It’s a good memory though. That and the trip to Kentucky.
I was 7. I have a 7 year old now who is about to turn 8. I wonder what snapshots of his childhood he’ll take with him into adulthood? Those memories are like dreams. I don’t remember the before and the after, how we got there, what we did next. I just remember a handful of randomness.
The race starts at 6:24 pm today. I think I will grab my little guys and make them stand with me as “My Old Kentucky Home” is played.
Kentucky Derby
This is the exact TV from my childhood.
Souvenir Cup from 1979. Again, no horses named Rainbow Connection.
Pottery Barn
This is a tough one. I struggle with this too. How do you make built ins, shelves, bookcases look artfully arranged without looking “arranged”. It’s like that scenario where you spend 4 hours trying to look really good and when you arrive at said destination– “Oh this old thing? I just threw it on.” It’s the unwritten rule that unless it is for a grade, interview, etc…no one wants to look like they tried too hard.
So when I look at magazine pictures of bookshelves they all look so amazing and haphazard all at once.
Like this:
Pottery Barn
But really? Who has bins of…are those parchments?…lying around and books that all happen to match?
Hence the title of this post—How to Style a Bookshelf for Normal People.
You need to remember a few rules. Let’s keep it basic. Simple. When we have it mastered we will move on to “How to Style a Bookshelf for Extraordinay People Who Happen to Own Books that All Match…or Bins of Parchments”.
Rules:
This is Bookshelves 101. This is not 201, 301, or even the dreaded 501.
Examples:
Books and Black Photo Boxes (multiple) and Pictures in Silver Frames.
Books and Square Baskets (multiple) and collection of Solid Color Ceramic Vases.
Books and Something Matching and Something Similar.
Books and Vases and Urns in similar colors (white, cream, blue).
Books and Small Framed Kids Artwork (multiple) and Wooden Boxes.
Books and Category and Category
Books and BLACK boxes and consistent SILVER picture frames.
Books and Matching Color and Something with Similar Colors (Pick 2 or 3 TOPS)
NOW Look at these Pictures:
Theme is Cream and White with Vessels. Only colors are Cream/Brown, White, Grey/Blue and a little Black.
Can you figure out the Theme?
These are JUST Books. That is the Theme. Every shelf is full and about the same height. Visual Consistency.
Build each shelf the same height as the one above/next to/below. Again look at the pictures.
If you are having trouble–stick it in the best you can and take another picture and compare. Any better?
It’s a start. THINK ABOUT HOW YOU CAN IMPROVE THIS. Can you spray paint all the picture frames so they match? Can you go to the store and buy matching….black boxes? Can you take off the book jackets? Can you arrange the books by color? Do you need more books for this to work?
Make a list. Buy the spray paint. Look for orange whatevers. Pick something new if you don’t have any reoccurring anything…Globes, parchments..?
Part 2 Coming Next…Help with Arranging or 201.
