Open Shelves: makin’ me C-R-A-Z-Y

When I realized it wasn’t in the renovation budget to close up all those open shelves, I was ready to sell this country house of ours. Seriously, this is way too much visual stimulation for me. Not to mention, dusting! Oye. If I had a very careful, full-time maid and a collection of McCoy pottery – I might be okay with it. But I don’t. Heck, I didn’t even show you all the open shelves in the house! Remember the laundry room? Are you with me? This is a lot of open shelves.Is there something about your house that makes you completely crazy? If so, how do you deal with it?

Posted by Amy Beth Cupp Dragoo / Making Your House a Home and Uncategorized

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13 Responses to “Open Shelves: makin’ me C-R-A-Z-Y”

  1. joyce on 14 Apr 2011 at 11:32 am

    Hi Amy—What about sheer curtains and a fast cheap fix—maybe white with springs on top and bottom—have the same problem with books–
    ps you hubby could put doors on them—(first put a wood rim around the edges to attach the door to)- check out a kitchen cabinet for reference-joyce
    (maybe I’ll take a picture of the homemade dog door ds & I made recently)

  2. joyce on 14 Apr 2011 at 11:33 am

    Hi Amy—What about sheer curtains and a fast cheap fix—maybe white with springs on top and bottom—have the same problem with books–
    ps you hubby could put doors on them—(first put a wood rim around the edges to attach the door to)- check out a kitchen cabinet for reference-joyce
    (maybe I’ll take a picture of the homemade dog door ds & I made recently)

  3. michelle on 14 Apr 2011 at 12:28 pm

    I’m sure if anyone of us walked into your home we would think it looks lovely and adore all of the open shelving but I totally get it. We all have things about our homes that drive us nuts. I happen to have the ugliest doors in the world but it’s not in our renovation budget to replace them all. We have the opposite problem.

    I busted out laughing at “Oh, my diamond shoes don’t fit” Reminded me of a conversation Nichole and I were having yesterday on twitter about how high flights to Europe are this year. To make it worth to cost of the flight I might have to stretch a trip to Greece in to three weeks instead of two, are these really my problems?!

  4. Anne on 14 Apr 2011 at 12:37 pm

    Ikea has some awesome designs that could work for any floor to ceiling shelves, they sell vertical panels and tracks – like a barn door set up, only much lighter! check this out: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/search/?query=anno

  5. Stacey Cornelius on 14 Apr 2011 at 12:46 pm

    Depending on how high up these are, maybe you can turn some of the shelves into drawers – the way a hutch works. Bottom half closed-in, top part open?

    That way all you’d need is a finished front that fits snugly into the opening, and you could do something inexpensive for the drawer insides.

    Hard to tell from the pics if that idea would work, but I think I see why doors would be a problem. It appears one side of at least one of the units is flush with the wall.

    That is a lot of space to fill. And look at. And dust.

    Curious about what you decide. I confess I’m semi-envious – I have virtually no storage space in my house, which is even smaller than yours!

  6. Melissa on 14 Apr 2011 at 2:33 pm

    I also have open shelves in my house that drive me crazy! So far I have just done my best to ignore them and not look at them. I’ve asked my mother-in-law for my Birthday gift for the past 4 years to come re-decorate them for me and it’s never happened. I’m at a loss of what to do with them now. :-)

  7. sharon on 14 Apr 2011 at 8:41 pm

    cut a sheet of MDF to fit exact outside frame and add some mouldings to the top (to create paneling), paint out in the colour of your choice and let it all melt away until you can afford to change it ? what you can’t see can’t bug you :)
    It’ll come to you … let it go for a few days, breathe :)

  8. trish on 14 Apr 2011 at 9:00 pm

    you are too cute angel. channel into your inner grasshopper sister. embrace the space – every white blank space for just for the moment. it is perfect. look at it in a new light. the shelves will take on a life of their own as you and mrd. go on expeditions and gather + nest, creating little cubbies with real memories with a sense of real belonging and meanings to you both, creating the home. eventually the spaces will get filled-in in a wonderful unfolding of time still to come. i must say and i do appreciate the non-decorated overnight, and appreciate the took some time to build on kind of look. just saying. embrace the space. oxox t

  9. Melissa Kapur on 14 Apr 2011 at 11:42 pm

    I have this *problem*, too! Some things that help, at least with the books- for hardover, remove the jackets. They immediately look better. Group these together and have some horizontal stacks, too. Put the paperback ones on less obvious shelves and break up with a vase or group books of similar size or subject in smaller baskets.

    I agree– it’s visual clutter and it makes me anxious. You’ll make it look great, surely!

  10. ABCD on 15 Apr 2011 at 9:53 am

    Oh, good idea Melissa – at least I won’t have that shiny paper everywhere.
    I have also seen it where people cover their books with kraft paper – keeping them all the same color. Not quite sure how that works…to find the book you are looking for…but sometimes it is more about the look then actually cracking open the book! ;)

    Thanks for commenting on ABCD Design!
    Have a great weekend.
    ABCD

  11. ABCD on 15 Apr 2011 at 9:54 am

    Oh Trish ~ you always know what to say to make things feel better!
    Thanks for popping by and reminding me to come back to earth and just ‘be’ with it.
    xoABCD

  12. Heather on 15 Apr 2011 at 10:10 am

    I think all your pics are lovely. I do know what you mean though, open shelves drive me a little crazy too! I think having a few open shelves in a group where the other shelves are filled might look good…however, you are certainly more of an expert on what looks good than I! :) The thing in my house that drives me crazy are the shelves above the desk area in my kitchen; I hate them! I wish they were cabinets with doors on them. I have the predictable cookbooks and picture frames on those shelves now, but I want something more original on those shelves…problem is I can’t think of anything good! :(

  13. The Vintique Object on 19 Apr 2011 at 7:50 pm

    Goodness, it all looks good to me! But I can imagine the dusting issues…I love what you did with the yarn and I think the books look great as they are. Please don’t cover them! It turns literary art into decoration and that does a disservice to literature.

    What drives me crazy about my house is the vinyl flooring in the kitchen. I can’t change it because we rent, and it is so awful. So awful. Just posted about the miserable stuff.

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