See the two white boxes sticking out on the right wall? That's the space I'm talking about. It has bothered me that I haven't been able to hang anything there. If I do, you all of the sudden notice the white boxes and not the beautiful wood carving of the African continent or whatever it might be. So, since October 15th, it's been blank. But just because the wall was blank, doesn't mean my mind was. I have been brainstorming, shopping with it in mind, etc. I came up with this solution.
It was perfect. Quality furniture, blends in with the wall color, good width, and the white boxes would fit between the rungs. Done. All I had to do was sell Peter on it. I knew I would have two hard selling points.
1. it's $150
2. it would stick out 14 inches into the 36 inch wide hall. I had no problem accommodating the shelf for the sake of decor. Peter on the other hand- would.
The conversation started like this. "Honey, you know that wall space in the hall and how it's not usable space? Well, I thought of a solution and if you're feeling open-minded, I'd love to show you what I found...." He didn't say no right away. He waited about 3 minutes and then said no. I asked again a few days later but the outcome was no better. A few more days later I brought it up again but this time with visuals. I got out the measuring tape and scotch tape and boxed out the space. Then I held up the measuring tape to show how little the shelf impacted the hallway do to it's sleek, narrow angle. He practiced walking through the hall with the beautiful imaginary shelf and explained where and how often he would stub his toe. I told him this was a poor point considering he stubs his toe every other day on the bed and we've been living with that many, many months. Maybe the problem was his depth perception, not the beautiful imaginary shelf.
And so the conversation continued as we laid there in the hall staring up at the awkward space. I suggested we buy it, I assemble it and if he hates it, I'll deconstruct it and return it. I asked if he had any better ideas for the wall. He didn't. I kept at the compromises. What if you made a shelf that looks like a box but doesn't have the back piece? "I could do that." What if we made a shelf that looks like this Pottery Barn one?
We were getting somewhere. We then looked up where to get distressed wood. Temecula. Blast. So far. We let the topic rest with the idea of making some sort of shelf.
The next day we were at Bed, Bath & Beyond. Just for kicks, we cruised through the shelf section. What about this? Or this? Do you like this? Would that work? We picked something and brought it home. We think we like it. Plus, it's $20 - 20% off coupon. Plus, while it was a little broken, it was pre-made and easily fixed.
Likey? See how both white boxes are covered? Or maybe you don't cause I hid them so well...
There they are. Peter laughs at me cause each time he walks by, it's rearranged differently. I like my Rwanda painting here better but I put my little Ireland painting over the AC controls like in the previous photo. Problem solved. Space to decorate. No more dominating white boxes and no stubbed toes or dented bank accounts. :) Marriage Life is about compromise!
xo, p&l
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