It’s done!! My living room dreams have come true - the shelves are up, and the glass coffee table is here, and it looks magical.

You can read the original living room blog post here.

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FLOATING SHELVES

So, the shelves. From the very beginning I had a vision of solid timber floating shelves. The warmth and the texture of timber would beautifully complement the white walls, and the slightly rustic style would create a lovely juxtaposition with the contemporary interior. I also dreamt of live edge that would show the natural shape of the trunk. And the floating shelves would have to be loadbearing, so we can display all our books and plants. Simple, right? Well, my friend, as you probably know so well - almost nothing in life is simple.

It only took a year. A year of research, various solutions none of which felt quite right, and a whole amount of different quotes.

It’s quite funny, really, because when you think about it, it isn’t anything even that special. I understand paying accordingly for built in cabinets and shelves, but, technically, this is just a pile of planks, as my mum lovingly called it. After I got quoted crazy amount of money for salvaged timber here in Ireland, she suggested I enquire in Latvia. The country is literally covered in forests, and timber is much easier to come by than here in Ireland. Mums are always right, and it was such a good idea! Here I got quoted €270 per shelf, while the whole lot from Latvia was €250. The schelves are solid oak (I don’t think it gets more Latvian than oak, it was even printed on our money before we got Euro). I paid another €200 for shipping, and €200 for fitting, and ended up saving a fortune.

The perfect imperfection of the natural edge looks so pretty with the stark white walls and the sleek black stove. I purposely didn’t want a fireplace or any decor around or above the stove (only Christmas wreath is allowed there), knowing that the shelves will look so busy with the colourful book covers and other pretty details. The white wall with stove in between the shelves is a calm space to rest the eye.

Seriously though, the excitement. I had time of my life filling them and styling them. So much room to play with!! And, when I was finally done, I stayed up way past my bedtime because I just wanted to sit there and stare at my beautiful shelves, and my cosy living room, complete. The small things are the big things, especially at a time when we’re all confined to our homes. It feels so good to have this safe space, cut off from the big bad world outside.

Oh, and I don’t think I mentioned the hearth in my original living room blog post. Instead of traditional hearth, we opted for a patch of tiles. My anxious reasoning was that I didn’t want the it to be a tripping hazard for The Child. The hearth in the old house was constantly blocked off and covered in sheepskin rugs to avoid injuries. Initially, I wanted to have something bright and fun (to contrast with my initial neutral interiors idea), but it’s so easy to tire of that kind of statement so I didn’t risk it. I’m so glad I didn’t! The black and white mosaic tiles won’t outdate as quick and, even though still quite the statement, they are quite easy on the eye, and I don’t think I’ll get sick of them any time soon.

GLASS COFFEE TABLE

I mentioned in the original living room post that I was planning to replace the old coffee table with a glass one. The old one was ok, but it was bothering me that the sofa, the armchair and the coffee table, all had same style legs. 12 of the same legs in one room is just too much for my liking. I had envisioned a minimalistic clear glass coffee table and had my eye set on this one.

I couldn’t quite believe my luck when somebody put the very table up on Facebook Marketplace for a complete bargain of €40. I was knocking at their door the next day, cash in hand, give me my coffee table pretty please and thank you.

The room looks bigger, brighter and so much more interesting with the leggy little table gone. Those subtle contrasts are what makes space interesting, and the rustic shelves look so good paired with the minimalistic sleek coffee table.

I’m delighted to report that this room is pretty much done! The first space in the house, complete. I still want to add another reading lamp on the other side of the sofa, and another armchair for comfortable seating when we’re entertaining. And a side table, and a gallery wall. But, there is no rush with any of that whatsoever, I am absolutely delighted with the room as is.

Oh, and if you’re interested in the technical part of fitting the shelves, I’ll write up a separate post about it soon to explain it in detail.