7.05.2011

Pipe Dreams

As homeowners for almost two years now, we've managed to slowly acquire those essential pieces of furniture that really help define a room -- whether it's our prized walnut dining chairs (more on those soon) picked up at a used furniture store and on Craigslist, or our $2 Burke tulip table found at an auction, we've managed to snag most of these pieces for ridiculously low to reasonable prices. What we haven't been successful at as of yet is shelving. We've planned and pondered, and even considered buying a set of mid century style book cases at Mod 50s one weekend, but we haven't been able to find a set that is both our style and in our price range (i.e. - free to $100). 

In browsing blogs, one of my favorite shelving styles has been DIY creations made from pipe and various types of 2 x 4s or plywood (photo above seen via Pinterest). I'm still not completely convinced that these are actually our style, but I love the flexibility that they offer. Our dream set of shelves would obviously be a fab teak or walnut wall unit from the 60s (a la the one below), but they're insanely expensive. 


So, I'm thinking maybe we should add this to our list of indoor winter DIY projects (or summer projects, since it's pretty obvious that accomplishing anything outside in 110 degree heat is impossible). In the meantime we'll just have to avoid buying those random knick-knacks that look so beautiful on shelves.

2 comments:

  1. A lot of people are making variations of that. I was almost going to also, but I haven't yet. Teak would be cool if you found a vintage credenza as a good starting point.

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  2. We're really loving the bottom one - we have a fairly long wall in our living/dining room that would be great for a wall unit. I think the trick would be meticulous planning for how you want your shelves arranged, and then a thought toward how to finish the wood you use. Maybe, if we're lucky, we'll find an amazing old credenza or shelving set on craigslist, though!

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