I love planning out a living space. In 2021, me and Jennifer moved into a condo with significantly more space than our cramped apartment during the beginning of the pandemic. But the furniture we had in the old place was taking care of the bare minimum. Also, as much of a space upgrade the condo is, it’s still cramped in a few spots. So in 2023 I decided I would make some changes, and gang, I built a bunch of furniture.
Don’t get it twisted, I didn’t hand make these. I bought prefabricated shelving from online retailers. But that isn’t to say I had to be smart and handy. I assembled our entertainment center in 2022 with custom cut backing and drilled holes to a shelf with 6 spaces in it for all our retro consoles, but I needed something to keep all those disks! Jennifer loves keeping cases around, and so do I. One of my first projects was assembling a very tall and thin bookshelf that allowed for the comparatively light disks to overhang on the shelf. I had some concerns about balance, and I didn’t wanna run afoul by drilling holes in the wall (which btw, the fact most landlords don’t let you drill holes is bullshit and controlling. I know what I am doing, dammit.) so a simple solution was needed. Some folded cardboard was just enough to tilt the thing backwards towards the wall, and hasn’t wobbled or fallen down in the year it’s been up. Love to be able to keep all our PS2 games at the ready when the desire strikes to bust those out.
But then I needed a new challenge. I built a fine desk for myself, but it was quickly being overrun with model kits and other knick-knacks I like to look at. I also wanted a place where I could play one of my favorite consoles, the N64, on the tiny CRT I have in my possession. There was an unoccupied corner of the office Jennifer and I share, so a corner desk was the perfect fit. I chose one with an outlet on top as well, letting me keep the CRT unplugged when it wasn’t in use without getting on my hands and knees to unplug it. It’s such a cute addition to the office; everyone wants large CRTs (myself included, when I move into a bigger space you KNOW I am gonna get a chunky one for Dreamcast games), but the small CRT with my figures surrounding it? As one friend put it when I showed off the set up, “I wanna come over and play Smash Bros on that thing.” It makes the closed off space so much more inviting and cozy. Friends, you’re welcome anytime if you wanna run some 1v1 sets.
Ok, so I solved my gaming issue, but me and Jennifer have a lot of books too. Books are an interesting space issue to solve: they don’t have universal sizes like game cases do. Manga is kinda uniform, but there is enough variance that there is no one-size-fits-all solution the way my disk shelf took care of. So with a little bit of extra funds, I bought a nice (mostly) cherry wood bookshelf that fit snugly in my living space. Research was tough on this one, as I had to not only keep an electrical outlet accessible, but on the wall I wanted to put the shelf against, our AC control unit was affixed at an inconvenient height. But this is why you measure twice, readers. I managed to get a great shelf for a good price at just the perfect dimensionality. It jutted out a little more than my disk shelf, but it didn’t cut off critical footpaths through the condo. Assembling it was a pain, though. Sometimes with these cheaper shelves, sliding things into place is a gamble. I had one piece that just wouldn’t go in, and I spent about 45 minutes puzzling out what had gone wrong. Luckily, with a little more patience and elbow grease, the back slotted right in place. Now I have a place for all my odd shaped books, with space to spare!
One consideration I haven’t mentioned that you should always keep in the back of your mind when assembling or buying furniture is how people interact with it. With the position of the bookshelf and disk shelf, I want people to be able to grab a book or a game and immediately start playing or reading on the couch, which is a few feet away. I could have easily put the bookshelf in my bedroom, but I want myself and my guests to be comfortable getting things they want to mess with freely. Walking into someone’s bedroom to get a book to read is awkward and clumsy! I have a niece who will be of reading age faster then I expect, and I want guests to feel free to browse, read, and play whatever they like. Sometimes I think people arrange spaces that don’t take this into account. Most people only think about this stuff in regards to TVs, but I think even then TVs can end up in odd spots. So when you are designing your space, always keep in mind how it’s used by not just yourself. You don’t need to be a Feng Shui expert, you just gotta imagine what people you want to accomplish with your space and how someone who’s in your home for the first time would use it.
There is always more work to be done. My condo still has unpacked boxes and spaces that don’t feel complete in the ways I want it to. But that’s the joy I find in it. I am always on the lookout for new ways to optimize my space and make it feel more cozy. Me and Jennifer would like to move into a house one day, and more rooms to design and arrange would be the best part of it. I have grand visions of recording studios, board game rooms, and personalized offices that make me curse the current housing market being as shit as it is. But I know me and Jennifer will one day figure it out, and you’ll be sure to find me arranging a warm and inviting home.
