I bet you're all wondering what it is I did while I was on my television hiatus aren't you? What could I possibly have done all those long, lonely evenings without the mind numbing entertainment that requires no thought at all. Well, for one thing I listened to podcasts but without visual stimulation they just made me sleepy. Slink off the couch and into a puddle on the floor, sleepy. And once I was on the floor I realized just what a poor housekeeper I am which sent me into a depression. It also made me realize I needed a new rug which would cost money which depressed me even more.
Really this whole no television thing had no benefits at all.
I had to figure out some sort of activity that I could do while I was listening to these podcasts at night. Something that would keep me awake during them. One evening nearing the end of my television hiatus as I was on the verge of drooling and doing that head nod thing I glanced over at my bookcase and found my answer. No, not reading. That would really put me to sleep.
I'd been watching my lovely, organized Billy bookcase get more and more disheveled by the year. I'd squish in a newspaper clipping, or a book someone loaned me. I'd push in a photo album that didn't really fit, or start sitting books on top of books, shoving in half consumed cans of Diet Coke, hiding mail I didn't want to deal with in there and before I knew it my beautiful bookcase went from this ...
photo by Donna Griffith
to this ...
Yeah, I rarely think to take a before photo. Especially if what I'm doing is a spur of the moment I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE kind of thing. If it's planned, like I know I'm going to paint my potting shed, and think in my head, well this will be a good post, I always take a before picture. But there are so many times I do things completely randomly, instantly and out of the blue that I don't think to myself ... "Hey! WOAH THERE. This would be a good blog post. You should probably take pictures." No. I just dive right in.
The podcast I was listening to during the 2 evenings and 2 mornings I redid my bookcase was Chicago Public Radio's "Serial". It's a murder mystery. So I was lulled to sleep by a murder mystery.
The before shot of my bookcase that you see at the top of the post is one of my most Pinned, shared and linked to images. It's just a good example of a bookcase and it didn't happen by chance. It took AGES to get my bookcase to look good. Many nights of putting things in, taking them out, moving things around, removing stuff, adding stuff and just a sprinkling or two of sobbing. Plus I'm pretty sure I ate a hot dog in there somewhere.
It took slightly less time to redo it this time around because I had all the basics. I just needed to neaten things up a bit and give my view from the couch a bit of a change. It isn't a huge transformation but it's enough that it makes me happy.
The 2 biggest changes I made were to vary the shelves so they didn't line up perfectly into squares like they do in the first photo. And then I also made sure to create a bit more breathing space in the lower portion of the bookcase. So the books have more space around them and aren't so dark and heavy looking. Just being able to see more of the white bookcase between the objects and books makes a big difference visually.
Here's a side by side. Keep in mind too, that I'm a bad blogger so you're seeing the difference between the good version of my bookcase and another good version of my bookcase. I really should have got a before shot when it was messy. But as we've established I'm a bad blogger.
Aside from changing the shelves a bit and allowing for more negative space, I'm not sure what makes this bookcase arrangement work. I like the symmetry, I know that. I like that some of my favourite objects are in it. I know that. Beyond that. Meh. I have no idea. All I know is for me it works, and I knew when it was done. I didn't stand there thinking more needed to be fixed or changed. When it was done, I knew it was done.
So why does this bookcase work? For the answer to that question I asked Interior Designer Carol Reed (who also designed my kitchen for me)
"Your after arrangement works well for many reasons, you've filled the shelves with a variety of books (vertical and horizontal), objets and art which makes it so visually interesting. You've also created great balance - a row of bins on the bottom anchors the whole thing, you've flanked the centre column of cubbies with symmetrical groupings and the colours are well balanced too, the reds, yellows and blacks (very dominant colours) are distributed randomly but evenly. You've paid attention to the negative space and avoided crowding any of the shelves, you allowed space around the objects to highlight them and you left breathing room around the books. Using a stack of books as a pedestal for smaller objects is another great way you balanced the negative space. The other key thing that makes a display interesting is when your eye moves around the arrangement, you've achieved this by placing your objects in triangular formations, most predominately the black bowl, the painting and the antlers which create that main triangle and then your eye moves off to the other objects in between and on the sides, you have other smaller triangles of displays within the whole." ~ Carol Reed
When pushed, and I mean REALLY pushed, Carol said the only thing she would change was maybe switching out the shiny gold planter to something older looking to match the patina of everything else and I have to say I agree.
And because I was so happy with the bookcase looking nice again finally, I ran up to my cutting garden and cut some Zinnias, tomatoes and weeds to make a Frances Palmer inspired flower arrangement.
I bought this antique Burmese monk's bowl (also called an Alms bowl or a begging bowl) when I was in Thailand. Going there I knew a monk's bowl was something I wanted to own, but I never imagined I'd get to buy an authenticated antique one. I was actually shopping one day searching for a really cheap gold Buddha head to bring home but somehow ended up with a really not cheap monk's bowl. Which is not unlike the time I went out shopping for pepperoni and came home with a couch.
In a week or so I'm going to tell you about everything in the bookcase, what it is and how I got it. I imagine you want to get to squinting your eyes at the books in my bookcase, so I'll let you get to that now.
I'll be over here watching television.
Leslie
Did you end up taking many (any) things off the shelves permanently? Or does it just look more spacious? I find it hard to balance the desire for tidy-looking styled shelves and the practicality of them holding many of the books that I own.
judy
I can't tell why but I prefer the first arrangement to the second. I love the white light fixture over the tan? And the first just has a calm elegance over the second which seems mere "arranged". I couldn't decorate my way out of a paper bag so this critique is pointless but since I am bored to tears with another morning serving of "joe Scarborough " and American Politics" an oxy moron if I ever saw one- I will leave it. You are an amazing arrangement of Genetic Genius and someone ought to clone you. If I had a Karen Clone leading? Dragging? me through an intelligent productive day it would be superfragelisticexpealidocious! I would have gardens and flowers and you would train the Rottweiler not to attack and eat us! Aw Well, I will stumble on- on my own -maybe in my next life I will be blessed with organizational abilities!
jainegayer
I love the "new" bookcase! I loved the old one too but the new empty spaces make it "lighter" looking (I'm sure there's a designer term for what I'm trying to describe). And yes, my head was bent to the side trying to read the horizontal titles on your books so I'm looking forward to your disclosure post.
Heather
I have an Expedit in my dining room in my apartment. I got it shortly after I moved in because I had so much "stuff" after downsizing from a 5-bedroom house. I use it for wine glasses, etc. as well as books & other stuff. I bought 5 baskets (mine is 5 cubbies wide) & I have a row of them across the middle. They hide things like placements, tea towels, and then one has my "office stuff". In the 2 bottom outside cubbies I placed a shelf on the diagonal & that works as the ever important wine rack. Overall it looks like a mess! Some cubbies are well laid out, others just look like they're holding STUFF.
Maybe I need to completely empty it & start all over again. I'll add that to my list. I think I should have a new list called my "I wanna be like Karen list."
Suzanne
Styling a home is a challenge, when married to an accumulator. One of the best people on the planet, but he sheds stuff like a tree sheds leaves in the fall. The concept of negative space isn't in his vocabulary. A tidy bookcase lasts about 3 months. Of course I'm perfect... Ha. 45 years and counting.
Deb J.
LOOVE your description! I'm married to one of those! I keep having to explain to my super tidy, minimalist sister (married to same) how I have to work the balance between clearing out stuff and ceding ground to the 'leaves'. Haven't quite found the balance yet.
Mary W
I love that I see more colors (blues and corals) on the new arrangement - it seems more lively instead of library-ish. I also love that you broke up the tall stack of red striped books in the middle. How do you keep them clean of dust? My biggest problem is dust on the organized "pile o crap" things I have on my selves.
Kim C
I like the new after version, especially the change in shelf size near the top. Just enough art pieces to keep it interesting too. Love the begging bowl!
Even with convenience of phone or tablet cameras, I rarely remember to take before photos. I'm no blogger but before snaps are handy when doing fix-ups or furniture shopping etc. I'm the person at the hardware store describing my needs to the patient clerk by flailing my arms about, using terms such as "yea big and this high".
marilyn
i never do befores either , then kick myself after!
Tigersmom
I love that you varied the shelves. It is a minor thing that makes a huge difference.
When we first moved into our house I had two IKEA Expedit units on either side of an older IKEA Markor unit that is basically a dark wood horizontal Expedit with some trim. It was 26 squares and it didn't take long for me to be desperate to change out the pieces and get rid of all the squares. I love squares, but it was waaaaay too many.
The original styling was good, but this new version is great. And you're right, you'll know when it's done. And you sometimes have to get away from it and come back the next day to be able to continue it.
Barbara H.
I used to live in a house that had two rooms that had been added on to the rear area. One old window opening between the old and new section of the house had been converted into narrow shelves. They weren't deep enough for books, but I had lots of small and medium sized collectables. After arranging and re-arranging, I finally was satisfied with my effort.
A few days later, my sister in law visited. She greatly admired my decorated shelves, and exclaimed, "Where in the world did you get all those pretty things?"
I offhandedly answered, "Different times and places."
She persisted, "No, really, where did you get them!"
So I stopped and ticked off each item for her, surprising myself that I actually remembered where I had found them all.
Then she said, "Well, I didn't mean for you to tell me all that."
I started to say, "Duh... that was what you kept asking me for, or is your memory really that short?" But I realized it was her attention span that was short, so I offered her tea and cookies. She could handle that.
Mondo | I bake he shoots
I like how changed the size of some of the cubes in the second arrangement, but the white lamp, fluffy chair, and flowers on the table in the top pic make for more appealing setting.
Karen
Well there are still flowers in the room, they're just in another spot. :) ~ karen!
Karen Too
You may be a bad blogger but how are you at oral surgery?
Roxy
I think Karen has this so that if the blogging thing doesn't work out she has something to fall back on. Smart.
Wendy
Nah...sorry, I like the 'Before' arrangement a whole lot better.
Sheryl Powell
I also like the first arrangement better. I think only because I like the shelves all lining up
chris
I love the look of a stylized bookcase, especially yours, however I could never do it to mine. I have an incredibly looooong wall of Ikea Expedits (plus two behind my couch acting as console tables) and am constantly struggling to get all of my books to fit. And that doesn't even count the non-fiction books in the office or the kiddie and young readers in my daughter's room. I'm currently working my way through every book I own (and evaluating if it's a keeper or not) in an effort to make everything fit. Think I'm gonna have to implement a rule that when new books come in, if they don't fit, something else has to go. Sob.
lavacha
Me too, me too *sigh*. Avid reader plus minimalistic tendencies, I experience strange emotions - like envy for negative space.
nancy
Yeah, it's so confusing to me when book shelves aren't full of books. Or horizontal stacks and you have to move a lot of stuff to get to a particular book. The absolute worst is hanging a piece of artwork ON a book case, blocking what? Books!! But I also know no one is coming to take photos of my house.
I see a Carl Hiaasan book, yikes, my mother loves him, to me he's so weird. I do LOVE etiquette books, that's kinda weird also.
chris
I am guilty of the horizontal stack. However, I limit each stack to one author and only stack horizontally if I can fit more books into the space than I can going vertical.
Christy
I didn't know you were on television. Until now I thought I was just following a really cool blogger. What is the show? And I love that strange little figure of a woman in your bookcase!
Karen
Hi Christy. Before I became a blogger 5 years ago I was a television host. That's my actual profession. I started my television career doing comedy commentary and the later part of my career was hosting a lot of shows for HGTV. :) ~ karen!
barbee
I always half way through the project when I think of the before picture!
Robin C
Great post! Bookshelf is beautifully styled snd I like that you let your readers know why it works. And also, Serial! Addicting! Some episodes drove me nuts but overall I loved it! She is going to be giving a talk soon right across from my house. Think I need to go!
Karen
I really liked Serial Robin C, but actually preferred the single episode version. At least as far as I remember it was a single episode. The one that was on This American Life about the doctor who replaced a doctor with the same name? ~ karen!
Cynthia Jones
So, the Australian TV series you were watching, was it "Secrets and Lies"??
Hey, was it? Karen? What was it?
I so love your fluffy thing.
"Such a Fluffy" - quote from Monsters Inc.
Love the deer hide too. I always wanted a hide on my floor but the leg bits would annoy me. Yours is nice and symmetrical, almost square. I am guessing several deer or one big fat one with stumps.
Karen
It's Wentworth that I'm watching! It's good, but from what I can see looks like it was made on a bit of a budget. And that my deer, is a cow hide. ;) ~ karen!
Cynthia Jones
I will be checking out Wentworth.
You have beautifully coloured cows in Canada. Our cows are ugly, dark, splotchy and dumbasses.
Carla
Hi Karen
Do you know how to get the fold lines out of a hide? I really want one, but whenever I see one I like it has folds. I have a bum leg from a back injury and often drag it Quasimodo style and trip on invisible things (like dust motes and hair, I think) so would be really scared to bumble over something I could see and didn't notice. Would folding it the opposite way make a difference?
Karen
Hi Carla. Technically you should be able to wet the hide at that spot to get the fold line out. It's also possible it will just fall out by itself once it's laid down for a while. ~ karen!
Cheryl
How did you know we'd all be squinting to read those book titles?
Guess you just know your audience!
Bookcases look great, love the variety of items you used.
Pati Gulat
When I grow up, can I be just like you ???
Karen
A person who has no idea how to style bookcases, but somehow manages to do it but then can't tell other people why it works? Sure. Yes. Yes you can. :) ~ karen!