I said last week that I was determined to have open shelving. My dream was actually floating shelves, so I was beyond delighted when I realized that’s what was being built for me. They were also able to take advantage of the framing to give me two built-ins that you’ll see later.
These floating, open shelves are above my washing machine and the top shelf runs all the way to the far wall. I love how my decorator friend put my art on the wall behind my dishes. I am not at all gifted in this area and would never have gotten that far out of my box! This print in particular adds just the right touch behind my clear and white bowls. For the curious, it’s Claude Monet’s Sunset in Venice.
I found this print of Sunset in Venice on Amazon. It is slightly larger than mine at 16×11.
And for the record, one of my glass bowls sacrificed itself when I decided I needed to confirm the name of the painting. I now only have one clear glass bowl sitting up there. I am sad. (Not really, just disappointed in myself for dropping my phone on the stack of bowls while trying to take a picture of the small print instead of just pulling the frame off the shelf.)
My friend also created the floral piece on the bottom shelf, not only to add color but to help tie in the gold of the upper shelf’s baskets. When I was searching for those three baskets, I was hoping for yellow to match the stripe in the multi-colored basket, but true yellow is hard to find. After I’d dubiously decked out the top shelf and sent her the photo, she set about creating some gold accents that would pull the color further into the room. You’ve already seen one of them if you read the library post. She actually painted a medical dictionary (An intentional salute to my love of words) gold and laid it on the shelf as an accent piece.
All four baskets are of woven rope. The three oval baskets on top came as a set. The rectangle basket on bottom came in a set of three as well; you’ll see the other two later. All the baskets arrived squished flat. This is why some are more consistently formed than others; I only devoted so much effort to getting them properly shaped. Both styles are available in a wide range of color options!
The top three baskets contain, from left to right, cereal (Yes, I like cold cereal – dry, because I don’t like milk), whatever I need the second basket to hold at the moment, and my hair stuff (dryer, flat iron, straightening brush, combs and brushes…) You can see that, at roughly 13 by 8 by 8 they hold a lot. So does the basket on bottom, which is 15 by 10 by 10. It handles the bulk of my cleaning supplies, which you can see peeking out a little bit.
So, basket links…
To the left of the rainbow basket is my glass jar filled with Arm & Hammer Plus OxiClean. I do have the same laundry detergent as a liquid in the rainbow basket, but these pods are my go-to. It’s my favorite detergent, and the colors are perfect for my house.
Finally, you have my paper towel holder and, hiding behind that, a small crock with my toothbrush and toothpaste.
And this has gotten long, so we’ll handle the other end of the top shelf next week.
Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C