Category Archives: Decorating

How many Asian men does it take to organize 5 billion books?

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The last time I organized my bookshelf, I switched out some of the books for my video games and most of my DVDs. I just got tired of looking at a top to bottom wall of books.

Instead, I opted for a smaller wall of books. I simply put the excess books on the shelf where the DVDs used to be. And Voila.

There was really no type of organization with this shelf. I just shoved everything in there. Well, there was a little organization.. The books I want to read are on top, the books I don’t want to read as much are below and the bottom shelf stayed the same with my non-fiction.

I actually do like that this shelf is full of books. It just appeals to me much more on a smaller scale rather than what I had. Now, if I had multiple bookshelves side by side, that would be a different story. But when you only have one tall bookshelf, you need to display more than just books.

In the typical Nostalgicism fashion, I added a few knickknacks because what’s the point of having knickknacks if you don’t display them? Clearly two items were not enough because it looks quite empty and cold to me. To be transparent, right before I took these pictures, I did have random clutter on it, which was why I refrained from going overboard with the collectibles and knickknacks. But, right now, the shelves look sad. Almost as sad as a Miley Cyrus song.

But it’s a work in progress, much like my main bookshelf or my life, really, heh. Sigh.

Is it still a bookshelf if it’s not full of books? :o

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Well, it’s that time again. No, not for a mob of angry Asian moms to chase me with torches made from traditional bamboo. It’s time for a bookshelf update. And this time, there are some major changes. Gasp. 😮

But, first, more or less the same. Let’s be honest, you weren’t surprised. The same old books. Mystery. Fantasy. The Dexter bobblehead. Blah. Blah. Blah.

The same books. The same photo. The same Chinese teacup. (Although, I’m honestly surprised that I kept the teacup there on the shelf.)

And here is where I decided to burn the rest of the books on the bookshelf and start putting other things on it because I got tired of looking at a wall of books. And I’m only partially joking.

Whenever I would look at the shelf, I don’t know, I just wanted to see more than just books. So I moved half of the books to another shelf in another room and replaced them with my DS/3DS collection and most of my DVDs. Oh and, of course, random figures and stuff. Because I’m not enough of a maximalist already. :p

It just made more sense to move the video games and DVDs to this shelf because I am more likely to actually use them if they’re in this room. I was barely using them when they were in the room they were in. It’s working out much better. 🙂

As with all of my bookshelf updates, I am liking this setup for now. I wonder how soon I will change it, heh. :p

The light shall shine on Wolverine, and everything shall be fine.

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The one thing I’ve always wanted was a bookshelf. I would dream about having a bookshelf to display all of my books and various collections. Well, I got one, and I’ve realized that one bookshelf is clearly not enough for me. What a surprise, heh. Unfortunately, I do not have the space for another bookshelf and, honestly, I’m too lazy right now to move things around. So, for now, I am working with what I have.

One of the things I’m working with is a display cabinet I got from my brother. I love it, but it has a black interior, so it’s difficult to see inside. To fix the issue, I put in some tap lights.

I liked them but after a short while, I took them down. I can’t remember exactly why I took them down. Maybe I just wasn’t feeling it. Or, perhaps they just stopped working one day. or I was staring at them one day, and I was like, no, I don’t want boob lights in my cabinet. I don’t know. So, for years and years and years, the inside of the cabinet was shrouded in pure darkness, and I was barely able to see my figures.

Then, one day, while I was at Walmart, I went through the lighting aisle and looked at my options. Not surprisingly, I didn’t have much choice. I ended up picking up a light that was basically a rectangle with a simple push button. I knew I needed more than one, but I wasn’t exactly sure how many, and I wasn’t sure how much I wanted to spend on this. Now, it was $6, which is not much, but I wasn’t sure if it was going to work, so I only bought one at first. I took it home, put batteries in and absolutely loved how much light it gave. The problem was figuring out how many lights to buy. I not only have the display case, but also two media stands. I was suddenly envisioning having lights everywhere even just on a table just in case I need extra light for something. I bought two more, but only ended up using one of them. The other one, oddly enough, is sitting on my night stand. There’s no specific reason why it’s there. It’s just there. It will be moved somewhere more useful, eventually. :p

The only thing I am not a big fan of is how difficult it is push the button, especially because one of the shelves is not secured and can be easily moved. It should be OK though because I am not going to have the lights on on a regular basis. I just have to be careful…ish.

I don’t know how long this setup is going to last since, you know, I have the habit of changing things frequently, cough. But it’s much better than what it was before. And that makes me happy enough. 🙂

The Ugly Stepchildren of Bookshelves

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Anyone who is a reader would know that it is impossible to keep all your books in once place. I basically have three spaces for my books. All of you are already familiar with my main bookshelf where I put all of my fiction. I then have a small bookshelf where I put my non-fiction books, and then I have another small bookshelf where I put my mangas and children’s books. And, then, of course, there are the random piles of books scattered around the house.

I haven’t posted photos of my other book areas because, well, when you have an actual bookshelf filled with books, that’s the one you want to take photos of. And, honestly, because of how dark the shelves are, you can barely see the books anyway. And, oh yeah, I have a crappy camera. I know, it’s very difficult to tell with my superb photo editing skills. :p

Not surprisingly, when I took the photos, they were too dark for me. I was like, “Ugh, I have a lot photo editing to do.” Then, I was like, “Oh, wait. I can just open the blinds. And the photos turned out so much better.

As always, with all of my various shelves and surfaces I display my collectibles on, they will get changed around like a million times, but here you go. Enjoy. :p

And an up-close photo because of my crappy camera and poor editing skills. Hey, I try. :p

I used to read mostly non-fiction, but I decided to focus primarily on fiction about three years ago. So, I haven’t been buying a lot of non-fiction and I’ve went through them and got rid of anything I knew I wasn’t going to read in the next fifty years and this is the end result. I’m quite happy.

Luckily, I don’t have enough children’s books and mangas to fill an entire shelf, so they are sharing a shelf with my DS and 3DS games, along with my DS’s. A separate post will be made about them, eventually. I need content. Sue me.
I don’t know if the Star Wars figures will stay on this shelf, but I like they fill an otherwise empty space. Here at Nostalgicism Studios, we say NO to minimalism.

:p

Should I finally splurge and get that life-size statue of Michelle Branch?

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Lately, I’ve been seeing a lot of people wanting to simplify and organize their lives by going through their items, getting rid of the stuff they don’t need and re-organizing everything. While I could do with some re-organizing and some light decluttering, I could never be a minimalist. I like being surrounded by stuff. Of course, I can live in a space with no furniture or personal items if I had to but my life is not an episode of Burn Notice.

Over the years, I have regretted buying a countless number of things for one reason or another: the item broke shortly after I bought it, I lost interest in the item, etc. I’ve been trying to be more careful about what I buy. I’ve been happier with my purchases for the most part. There are, however, some purchases that I have been wanting to do for a while now, but I keep delaying them, mostly because of the cost, the fear of not liking what I’m liking and the strong possibility of it falling apart in my hands.

New Digital Camera

I have an old Canon digital camera  several years ago that is fine, but the quality of the photos is so bad that I have to edit them in order for them to be decent.

I’ve been hesitating to buy a new camera though because I don’t take pictures often, and I’m honestly afraid that I’d get poor quality pictures anyway.

A Second Desk

I have a desk for my laptop and small tasks but for things that require more space, like craft projects, it’s not functional. I’ve been thinking of getting a second desk so not only do I have the space to do art projects and other things, I can just leave stuff on it without the need to put everything back right away. Perhaps some people might think this would just add to the clutter but, honestly, it would be nice just to leave a project there so I can come back to it when I have the time.

A Portable DVD Player

I can play DVDs on my laptop, but I’m often using my laptop so I can’t multi-task.  A portable DVD player would allow me to do both. I did have one, but it broke mysteriously one day, so I’m hesitant to buy one.

If I had to make one purchase right now, I would lean toward the portable DVD player. It’s the cheapest of the three, and it would help me watch more TV, which is one of my goals. I know. I know. It’s sad that I had to make it a goal to watch more TV. Stop mocking me. D=

A lovely banquet hall, 50 tables with silk pink tablecloths and a human skull with pink tulips on each table

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I enjoy watching interior decorating shows, but due to my living situation at the moment, I don’t get a lot of opportunities to decorate my space. Not to mention, I don’t prioritize my time well. Right now, I’m taking things very slowly, doing a little at a time. I started with hanging photos on the walls. Then, I displayed my books and various collectibles. I then added lighting to a display cabinet because every time I looked at the black hole that is darkness, it made me sad.

For a while now, I wanted to add a touch of greenery to my space, but I was hesitant about putting live plants in my space because I wanted something that required absolutely no maintenance. I know. I know. Plants don’t require much. Knowing myself though, one day, I will walk in and find the planter tipped over, soil and dead leaves all over the table and floor and, somehow, a suicide note will be left next to the planter.

I had a rough idea that I wanted something along the lines of a bowl with rocks and water, but I didn’t really have a solid idea. So I browsed the crafts and garden sections of my local Wal-Mart and, let’s just say, I was disappointed. I then had an epiphany. “Hmmm. I wonder if I can find anything in the aquarium section.” After I was a little traumatized seeing fish in little sealed containers sitting on the shelf waiting to be put on someone’s caught and subsequently flushed in their toilet a few weeks later, I found what I was looking for. I picked up a package of fake aquarium plants and a package of rocks.

I tried to find a suitable bowl at Wal-Mart, but I wanted one that was clear and had a flat surface. None of the clear bowels had a flat surface that was large enough for me. I then remembered I had this bowl that I bought years ago at a thrift store that was just colleting dust. I hope it enjoys its new life as a fake plant holder.

I ended up using two of the three fake plants because the third one was a bit, um…

Yeah… I have no words.

I generally do not like DIYs because I know I will mess up at some point, and end up not liking the end result. This time, it was just me pretty much putting things in a bowl, so there was no chance of me accidentally setting my place on fire.

First, I washed the plants and rocks, as advised on the packaging. I know I’m not actually going to put fish in the bowl, but I might as well rinse them beforehand. I then place the two aquarium plants on the bowl, threw random rocks in a random arrangement and pour some water until I was satisfied. And this is what I ended up with.

I might add some color to it by adding beads or gems of some sort but for now, it does its job. If you want to hire me as your interior decorator or wedding planner, have your people contact my people, and I will start ordering paper lanterns and stuffed squirrels.