What’ll It Be? (and a Winner)

Published on by Our Humble Abode

First, let’s take care of business.  The winner of the Studio Tullia and Our Humble Abode giveaway is…Kimberly R!  Congratulations!  You’ve got one pillow and two constellation cut outs waiting for you to customize.

Though the family room isn’t finished, I’m still excited to work on decorating.  This four-foot wide nook by the fireplace is kind of tough.  Right now we’ve got wood storage, an open space (that we’ll eventually fill with a tv), and a thick shelf for books and art.

Family-Room-Bookshelf-Arrangement-Books-and-White-Frame

Originally, I wanted two shelves at the top for a more built-in look, but chickened out when we built it fearing two shelves would look cramped.  To be sure, I turned to Photoshop.  Adding a second shelf and tv does fill in the space.  If we upgrade the tv in the living room, we’ll put that one in here, like this:

Family-Room-Nook-with-TV-and-Shelves

But the 42″ tv looks huge here, so maybe we’ll buy a smaller 32 inch-ish one, like this.

Family-Room-Nook-with-Small-TV-and-Shelves

Or maybe just a coat of paint is all we’ll need?

Family-Room-Nook-Photoshopped-with-Painted-Walls

One shelf might look less cluttered…

Family-Room-Bookshelf-Photoshopped-with-TV

Then again, two shelves could look like a built-in, adding height to the nook.  In the event we add a second shelf, books will primarily fill the shelves.  What do you think; one shelf or two?

38 thoughts on “What’ll It Be? (and a Winner)”

  3. I’m no decorator, but definitely like the look of two shelves (and the bigger TV isn’t bad either) If you do keep just the one shelf, maybe add some taller “coffee table” books to help fill in the space

    BTW I love what you’ve done w/ the fireplace 🙂

    Reply

  6. Two shelves and large TV–in Photoshop can you change the back wall color in that nook to a charcoal colored grey, something close to the color your fireplace slate?

    It would disguise the TV and allow your wood pile and light books to pop.

    Will you have to worry about cable boxes/DVD player, etc?

    Reply

    1. Hi Karyl!

      I could give it a try. 🙂 We won’t have a cable box and we’ll probably use a Play Station for DVD/streaming movies. If we use our current tv in there, it will kind of tuck behind the tv.

      Thanks!
      Amanda

      Reply

    1. Hey Sarah!

      I’m not sure what our tv situation will be. If we upgrade our current one and use it in the nook, it will look like the larger one. If we decide to keep it where it is, we might go with a smaller one. Not sure yet, but thanks for your opinion!

      Thanks!
      Amanda

      Reply

    1. Hi again Karyl!

      We actually thought the same thing! At least for the wood storage area. We decided to live with it painted white, see how beat up and ugly it gets and then do something if we really want. I love the look though!

      Thanks!
      Amanda

      Reply

  10. I like 1 shelf. I think having books that are almost touching the ceiling makes it look cramped and awkward. It seems more balanced and less top heavy with 1 shelf.

    Reply

  11. I am a big book person who likes having lots of books around, so I would definitely go with 2 shelves. I think it looks more balanced that way. With one shelf, it just looks like it’s missing something.

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      1. I’m just catching up and I love how the fireplace turned out. I like the look of the two shelves, and actually storing books on them – like a true built-in bookshelf area. If it were my house I’d probably skip the TV entirely, but then I’m a little weird and think TVs are ugly, so we only have 1 tv, which is in our basement TV room. . . most of my friends think I’m weird about that.

        Reply

        1. Hey Jane!

          Thanks so much for your compliments! 🙂 I’m leaning toward two shelves with mostly books, too. If we put a tv in the nook it will be a while. Like you, I don’t like the look, but it would be nice to be able to watch tv while cooking or if Ben wants to watch the weather before work. Or if I just don’t want to watch something Ben does. 🙂

          Thanks!
          Amanda

          Reply

  14. You’re going to be so far from the TV, even 42 inches will seem tiny when you actually try to watch it. Definitely go bigger, it doesn’t look bad at all!

    Reply

  15. I like the two shelves and the bigger tv. I also think that if you were to add sides and a top to the shelves, like you have for the wood box, it would look more finished. Just a thought.

    Reply

    1. Hey Kim S!

      I totally understand what you’re saying. We thought about continuing the sides all the way up, but then we’d have two foot deep shelves, which is too deep to be functional without wasting space at the back. 😦 Hopefully fresh paint will help. 🙂

      Thanks!
      Amanda

      Reply

  17. I like two shelves and the larger tv. The smaller tv seems to get lost and something looks off with only one shelf.

    Reply

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