Staci

Quick and Easy LP Shelves

For a cheap way to bring color to our dull gray-green living room (with any luck, this color won’t last much longer–Sherwin Williams is having a sale at the end of the month), we picked some of our favorite (blue and yellow-ish) LP covers to fill some shelves which were a piece of cake to assemble.

In this photo, you will see how drastically the lens on my point-and-shoot bends straight lines.

Additionally, you’ll see how the shelves (4 ft each) hold 3 records, easily changed on a whim (way better than album frames!). This will also be an easy way for us to display Christmas cards this winter!

To make the shelves, we used one 1×2 and one 1×3, cut in half at Lowe’s (complimentary!) to make 4 4-inch pieces of wood. We had Doug’s brother cut a groove (above) into the 1×3 so that whatever’s on the shelf has a space to rest comfortably. We then attached the 1×2 perpendicularly to the back of the larger board with two screws (each screw around 8 inches from each end). To put them on the wall, we carefuly measured and leveled, and screwed them directly into the wall. Since they aren’t holding much weight, we didn’t bother to look for studs (plus, the wall is plaster and a nightmare in the first place) but when hanging other shelves–FIND A STUD IN THE WALL for an anchor!)

For now, the unfinished wood is similar to the color of the bookshelf we got at Target (which is in the opposite corner of the room) so they don’t bother me too much currently. Eventually, however, they should be painted white to match the trim (baseboards and windows) in the rest of the room.

Monday Good Reads #2

Today for my Monday Good Reads I appeal to the testosterone-side of my readers and present for your consideration Dispatches, by Michael Herr.

This was another book assigned to me for a class (I will break this trend eventually I promise). Thing is, I ultimately dropped the class and read this book anyway, it was that good. This memoir was written after Herr, a war correspondent in Vietnam for Esquire, returned from the front and was published in 1977. At the time, as well as now, many veterans from this era are reluctant or unable to talk about their experiences–this provides a glimpse (at times graphic) into one of America’s worst foreign interventions. As a result of the critical acclaim of this memoir, Herr was consulted and credited as a writer in Vietnam War films Full Metal Jacket and Apocalypse Now.

Actually, I have 2 copies of this book (mistake in ordering them back when I was in school). Anyone want to borrow one?

Pillow-Palooza

Instead of taking a nap and preventing myself from getting to bed at a decent hour later, I decided to channel all my sleepy energy into finding a lot of beautiful, texture-y, comfy-looking pillows I wish I could surround myself with. I found myself being drawn to flowery ones that I would never in a million years be allowed to fill my house with!

Since 7 is a lucky number, I present to you 7 scrumptious pillows! Click on’em to get directed to their stores.