Tales From the Box

We have 2 Lack shelves at the Box, and we have made very good use of them over the years. We started out with one above the TV in the old lounge room upstairs (before the reno) that housed our small-but-rapidly-growing DVD collection. When said DVD collection grew bigger than the shelf, we bought another one and mounted it above the first one. It was a great look, and I had the DVD’s alphabetised and everything. Very cool.

Then we renovated the house and relocated the lounge room downstairs. We again mounted the 2 Lack’s above the TV on the new wall with their accompanying DVD’s. It worked fine until the DVD’s outgrew the 2 shelves. We thought it would be a bit ridiculous to buy a 3rd shelf (and mounting it above the top one would mean they would be too high for me to reach). So we brainstormed storage ideas. I measured up the Malm 6 drawer chest and worked out that it would easily house our burgeoning DVD collection and allow room for plenty of growth (see more about that tale here). DVD storage problem solved.

Then I decided I wanted a landing strip (see more about that fascinating tale here). And I realised that a Lack shelf would be the perfect solution. So the lovely husband made it happen. We moved one of the Lack’s around the corner to the front entryway, and left the other one above the TV to be a display shelf.

So now I have a lovely spot for bits and pieces like vases, pretty books and my ever-present stack of magazines (not sure where this came from, but I have them all over the house).

And because it’s above the TV, it’s in the perfect spot for sitting on the couch and staring at my pretties during ad breaks of Gilmore Girls.

 

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So we’ve had some fairly windy rainy weather of late. And we live in a pretty tree’d area. So it was no surprise when a large branch broke off one of our ghost gums. What was surprising was that it happened at around midnight, with a loud crash, just as we were falling asleep. And that it was roughly 10 metres long.

And that it fell precisely between our 2 parked cars, missing them both by only a few inches. And that the Widg slept through the whole thing.

Bless the boy.

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Anyone who has been to the Box has probably seen the large section of hallway we have upstairs. It’s a remnant of our hodge podge reno.

You see, when we turned our kitchen/living/dining room into the master bedroom, there was this section of room leftover that became (by default really) a very wide hallway between the 3 bedrooms and bathroom. This hallway is so wide that I can have my clothes airers set up, and there is still enough width to walk past without touching them.

The hallway currently has 2 very old and dodgy white cupboards (old wardrobes that were left here when we moved in) that are being used for storage, and a couple of airers (I don’t have an outside clothes line). We don’t have any proper storage at the Box – no linen cupboards, no where to store sheets and towels, or any other random belongings that most houses have. Hence the suitcases, old computer and baby bath sitting on top of the wardrobes. (Side note: where do people store their suitcases anyway? Does everyone have some giant secret cupboard to hold all their luggage?)

So our next indoor project for the Box will probably be to find a more permanent solution to storage and use of the hallway upstairs. We will most likely keep a large section of the hallway free for the airers. It’s just too convenient to be able to hang out several loads of washing indoors, and that particular area of the house seems almost purpose built for it – the way we have positioned the louvered windows and the air flow through the bedrooms means that washing dries incredibly fast, even on the most rainy or humid day.

But we really need to ditch the old white cupboards – they really are falling apart, and they aren’t a very functional type of storage (they only have hanging space and one shelf). What we really want and need are either a built-in system, or a few nice sets of chests of drawers. We discussed the built-in option, but I really don’t like the look of something all crammed in from floor to ceiling, like a kitchen up there. So we have decided to go with some chests of drawers, but only as a test.

However this could cost a bit, especially if we decide we don’t like it or it doesn’t work. Ideally, I would love to use these Hemnes ones from Ikea:

But I’m not sure they sell them in white anymore, and they are a bit pricey. So instead we have decided to go with these Rast ones, which are only $50:

I actually think they’re quite ugly, but then I saw this over on Aubrey + Lindsay’s blog:

And this one too:

And it got me thinking: paint them a nice glossy white, change the handles, and they might scrub up ok. So I have permission from the husband to buy one to start with, paint it white and see how it looks. I’ll let you know.

Now, I realise that you might be thinking “Why would you store your linens and towels in drawers? Surely a cupboard with shelves would be better?” Well, maybe. But surely drawers are essentially the same as shelves, they just have a front on them. As long as I fold them very neatly (which I already do anyway) they should (in theory) fit in drawers just fine. I’m going to give it a go, and I’ll take photos and let you judge for yourselves. Oh, and I have no idea where the suitcases are going to go. At the moment, I’m hoping a genius solution will present itself out of thin air. I’m nothing if not hopeful.

Now, please bear in mind that this whole idea may only be short-to-medium term. We have thought about turning the upstairs hallway into some kind of “room” – like a study nook if we ever needed the 3rd bedroom to actually be a bedroom. We could fit a built-in desk under the window. And with a view like this, why wouldn’t you?

Although, might not get much work done that way. Maybe it’ll be more of a “daydreaming nook”. We’ll see.

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Apologies for lack of blogging lately folks. Life has just been busy. But don’t despair! There are plenty of new projects in the works, both sewing and gardening, as well as some idea-generating for the interior of the house (just waiting to win the lottery so that we can put those ideas into action).

In the meantime, here is a pic of the lovely vase and candle my husband got for me for Christmas. Every time I walk past I can smell sweet vanilla!

In the background you can see the terracotta warrior that the inlaws brought back from China for us, as well as some beautiful storm photo’s that the husband took ages ago.

I hope life outside the box is going swimmingly for you!

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