Category Archives: Decorating

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.