This weekend I talked Gordon into a home improvement project. We’re slowly trying to get the house in shape. We made a nice guest room, a nice media room,we renovated the living room, which still needs a little work, and now the office gets a turn. We had repainted it and hung up new curtains shortly after moving in, but that was about it.
The former owners had used the office as a dining room, and it’s large and spacious. Our computers are siting at one end, and at the other end there was this beat up junk shelf and a tacky sofa table onto which Gordon and the kids put an old TV. They went through a phase of wanting to play old Sega Saturn games, which necessitated a purchase of an old TV for $25. Old games don’t look nice on high resolution TV sets. We also bought a small couch to sit on in front of the TV. After about two months, they got tired of playing the old games. We donated TV to the Goodwill. I stuck my plants onto the sofa table in an effort to revive them after the move. It didn’t look great from the start and slowly degenerated into a complete and total mess.
This weekend, I decided I had it. We bought things at Home Depot, I measured everything, and Gordon heroically drilled holes and screwed the screws with my assistance. He was a very good sport and claims to not have minded. Final results:
Total cost: 5 shelves $6 each, 5 sets of brackets, about $11 each, some cheap pots, two pricier, $10 pots (the ones with rope), 3 $6 miniature roses, and the wooden vase and the treasure chest I got at Family Dollar, for $2 and $3 each. Overall, I’d guestimate under $200 easy. No books have been harmed: they are completely removable, although getting them back on the shelf requires some muscle, so I stuck to pretty books I use rarely or have double sets of.
That’s Bob (Roberta) orchid under the window. So I name my plants, leave me alone. Mindy very generously sent me a whole bunch of orchids. Some orchids are doing really well. Bob is not. Bob is sending bunches of new roots everywhere and looks really dried out. In an effort to keep her alive, I drench the new roots, which makes a big mess, which is why Bob is sitting in that white plastic thingie. The plan is to figure out some sort of esthetically nice arrangement for her, which will probably involve a large tray of pebbles and water.
Update for people asking how bookshelves were done. Here is a How-to: click here. It does take a lot of patience, because books don’t want to do this. It looks best if you keep them as snug against each other as possible. Also I practiced a bit on a board, and if you do this, make sure the shelves are attached into the studs, because they are heavy. We attached brackets to shelves, then attached the books, then attached shelves to the wall.
You neglected to mention the small black and white dog like creature, which can be purchased only in the parking lot of random HEB grocery stores from nice old couples. Not only is she pleasing to the eye but she is also functional in that she finds and eats everything on the floor.
And then creates little puddles in random locations.
It looks really beautiful.
PS: having the books hang upside down in sooooo cool!
I love this too!
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It was less cool when we hung it. Gordon had to hold the shelf with the books attached to it.
It’s good that he has manly muscles.
I didn’t mind, I still got to run my Star Wars dailies in between lifting heavy things.
Off topic… What dailies do you usually run?
As an Imperial, I love to run the daily space missions: Nez Peron, the Saraphin Assault, the Cartel Listening Station. Here is the thing, you can send your guys off on collecting or crafting runs while you fly the missions and still make money. Plus you get experience and Fleet commendations. My Imperial Agent can and has made all sort of ship upgrades so really they are milk runs. Ok, that was so inherently geeky that I must now drive to the gym and lift heavy things, while grunting and sweating.
lol. Haven’t you heard that geeky is the new sexy?
I haven’t tried the space missions yet because of my lack of hand-eye coordination. I make my husband get the datacrons for me because trying to get them (and failing multiple times) has had me almost quit the game. He says I’m not allowed to do that.
I did finally try the Imperial side, but I can’t quite make myself choose any dark side options. Yet.
My Imperials are quite a mix of dark and light, it’s rather confusing… Although I only have two, an Assassin and a Sniper. =) I just started a Smuggler, too and those choices are turning out rather interesting…
Oh, btw, the room makeover looks great! I realize you never want anyone to see the icky stuff, but I would have liked to see a before and after shot, too.
It’s fun to be a light Imperial. Whenever I win the roll in group conversations, much booing and hissing ensues. Is Nez Peron the one with the asteroid field? If so, i’ve only done that once. I almost had a panic attack trying to make it through those fields, so I promised my little Sith never to subject her to that again.
It looks great! Please send some ambition vibes in my direction.
Also, naming your plants may be why you have some still living. I might try that. Perhaps it will give my next houseplant a shot at living for longer than ten days. I always assumed that my black thumb was because plants, unlike dogs, cats, and kids, won’t come bug you when they get hungry or thirsty. But maybe it is because I never bothered to name them.
I want to know how you got the books to do that!
You guys did a GREAT job! Looks fantastic. Have you considered putting Bob near the kitchen sink? We have our orchids hanging over the sink and they thrive because of the warm, steamy water that runs frequently!
Unfortunately the sink gets a ton of light and Bob didn’t like that either. Bob liked Oregon much better all around.
Not to get too down in dirt – yeah, I went there – but what is he potted in? I found that moving my orchids from bark chips to something very similar to dried moss worked really well. I also use different formulations of fertilizer when they’re in a rebuild and grow phase then when they’re in a blooming phase. I tend to fertilize a little less than recommended (in concentration) but include it every time I water. If you’re interested in the numbers on the fertilizer, or more details on the planting medium let me know.
I got a lot of this info from my mom, who got so sick of her orchids dying that she started taking classes in how to raises them. Some of it from trial and error on my side.
The room looks lovely! As does the auto-vaccuum/black and white dog.
I agree with Dawn. Fertilizer once a month is important for a healthy plant and really increases the chance of getting your orchid to flower in season.
It is VERY dry where I live and we’ve struggled with our orchids. The sink has worked really well for us. How about a bathroom? Usually you get the moisture but less sun?
I ‘ve been taking care of my mom’s orchids for 7 months now, since they live in another house and the climate there isnt good for them. I am happy to inform everyone that all of them are still alive and doing well, considering they were half dead when my mom asked me to take them.
We dont use any fertiliser cause we are against it. We try to keep it as natural as possible.
What i know is that orchids dont like direct sunlight. Big no no. Also their roots like to be soaked in water, but not much cause they will drown. And last, what we recently read is that Orchids thrive in transparrent pots. Apparently their roots are very opinionated and they want very specific things to be happy. Last but not least, you must talk to them (yeah i know, talk about feeling stupid talking to those cuties, but it works! You must see my mom’s big garden).
Now i dont know if that will work for you >.< Stupid orchids, while they are very very beautifull they are very difficult to take care of. But i hope that maybe my ideas will help your orchids a bit.
Please share how the books are hanging from the bottom of the shelves. I love that idea! I Love that books are form and function.
Update posted in the blog above
Many thank yous! I will be giving this a try.
Hi! This is my first time here just signed up because I love your books. I too name my plant my first Roma tomato plant. She was Terri la Roma Clark! She did wonderful all last spring and summer until the first frost took her. Sorry about the rambling! Your office/plants home looks beautiful!
I’m loving how green it is! Green things (i.e. plants not random green inanimate objects) always make me feel better, I used to live right next to a park and I would walk there whenever I was fed up or down. I’ve moved now but the nearest park is still in walking distance, so I go there pretty often, we don’t have much of a garden to speak of at the moment and our flat is titchy and doesn’t have great light so the few plants I can fit in aren’t doing so great
. I also love your upside down bookshelf, it looks very cool, even if it is a pain to use and required manly muscles to put up 
.
It looks great! I used books decoratively on my mantle, artistically offset, and of course my engineer husband kept straightening them. I used literature books from college. What else am I going to do with them?
I second putting the orchid somewhere warm and humid, with a lot of sunlight coming in. All my orchids died when we moved because the current house doesn’t have a good spot for them.
That is so darn cool! Upside down books rock.
Nice job!
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Yay for mutant crazy flowers! I’m not the one having those at home! Ha!
I’m with everyone else, the hanging books are awesome!
I am buying the Iphone Ease into 5K app. Oy.
You can do it!!! If you ever need anyone to run with, let me know. You can set the pace, and I’ll keep you company and shout encouragements at you.
I know how hard it is to start and keep it up, and I also know how much running with a friend helps.
Actually, depending on the pace, I might be wheezing encouragements at you, but still…
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It looks awesome! I miss live plants… my cats eat any live… or as I found out with my wedding bouquet, silk plant that we bring into the house…. it makes me sad. :’(
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I love all the plants. And the trick with the books is neat.
I can’t wait for my kids to be gone so I can try growing orchids. I have enough space currently for my African violets. But the other spaces are all within range of boy kidlets throwing, jumping, knocking into things. Therefore no more ‘real’ plants can be had around my house until they have grown. Plastic works well and doesn’t make a mess when knocked onto the ground and is less interesting to doggie types than real plants that would make her sick when she ate them.
Do either of you hire out? I have vaulted ceilings and am in desperate need of “Out of child reach” shelves…
I kid. I hang my own. At least the ones I can reach on the ladder. I just have an 18 month old climbing after me that makes it far more interesting than it should be.
Also… gimmie your couch. Ours looks like someone ate it and threw it back up.
It looks great! I’m jealous because I can’t keep plants alive. Luckily, I do better with children. Thanks for the how-to link. I may have to try that!
Bob is a dendrobium; they quite often look terrible. Then, from the bare canes, they’ll suddenly put forth a glorious spike of flowers or a keiki (whole new little plantlet). It’s not a black thumb, it’s just the way they are.
Beautiful room. I’m drooling over those lovely floors.
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LOVE it! I had those same shelf brackets in my cart at Home Depot, but hubby thought it was too deco for son’s room (putting up shelf for his baseball cards) so we choose the one in the same series as that one but one swirl instead of those. I love how they look!!
I too am drooling over your look. We moved into the house almost two years ago and still haven’t done a lot of the things I had dreams of. I kill plants therefore ours are all taken care of by my boyfriend only he grows night blooming cyrus which are neat for the one night of the year they bloom otherwise are large spindly things that grow 8 feet tall and don’t fit on shelves so are shoved into corners etc. I would love to have your shelf system instead. Great job.
I LOVE the books UNDERNEATH the shelf. So cool! The plants are so pretty. Sadly, they’d be dead in a week in my house. #blackthumb
That looks great! *sigh* I need home decorating creative skills and ideas.
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Great idea with the books and the room looks great! We have many things to do to our house, you can always rent Gordon out for us fellow fans in need of geeky manly mans… LOL (Only for home improvement projects, of course…..)
Bob looks fine. As long as there are green leaves, she’ll thrive. The yellowed canes can be snipped off with a pruners, secateurs, whatever you call them:) Roots are what are necessary. Soaking is not.
http://www.aos.org/Default.aspx?id=197
For those of you who may not know what Bob is: http://www.planthis.com.au/plant-information.asp?gardener=25701
For those that don’t. Don’t click.
The plants look GREAT. The redecorating is beautiful, and the plants will love the light.
The blog is spiffy looking too.
I wish I had space to hang my books upside down. My bookcases are full to the brim, and the walls are covered in botanical prints. Or dog awards. Rats.
Mindy Mud, or whatever you want to call me.
Oh yeah. As long as there are some trays with pea gravel and water to evaporate, orchids will do fine. I don’t think I sent anything too hard to grow. Mainly grooming is an issue. What looks dead might just be dormant. The old greenhouse is now gone.
Love the gravity defying books
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Looks really good. I am not sure Gordon gets enough praise in this. A lot of guys would say; 1. media room-check 2. couch-check 3. beverage of your choice-check…and home improvements would be done till the 108 inch OLED TV hits the market. Not only did he step up the guy game, but he could work in online gaming too. I am impressed.
I have tried to convince my sister that 80 year old houses that stay quite cool in winter and orchids are not going to work. She never listens. Are orchids a cult?
One thing I did wonder about was how the white thingie was working out? My first thought was “Why does she have a plant in the liter box?” Wondered if your cats thought along those lines as well?
Lovely job and to have a man that says he doesn’t mind doing the DIY jobs that must be heaven?
THAT is cool. I wish had some bare wall space in my office. Bookshelves ate all the wall space, though.
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looks awesome!!!
I’m always looking for ways to show my younger brother that I’m cooler than him. I’m thinking some upside-down cook books from an invisible bookshelf may give him pause. I can use that giant Martha Stewart Entertaining book some one gave me, it just collects dust now. Of course, the fact that I’m sitting here thinking all this may be the win for him. :p In any case, thanks for the inspiration- it looks great!
It looks really good! Very creative with the books under the shelves.
Try Houzz.com great ideas for decorating and remodeling
I like the gravity defying some books..Thank you for sharing awesome post to us..
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You had a great idea to re modelling your house..I love also the decoration..Thank you for sharing this post to us..
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Here’s another trick for orchids- if you have a tree with shading in it it you can use some pantyhose to tie the orchid into the tree (like in a crook). and then leave it alone and don’t worry, it’ll bloom when it blooms. sounds odd, i know, but they are actually epiphytes (they grow on trees) in the rainforest so 1) they don’t like a lot of light 2) they are not used to very much water, mostly humidity that they can absorb through their roots, so they are very easy to drown.
I’m totally intimidated by orchids – I second Richard’s comment about the Cult of the Orchid. It’s like a secret society of druid life magicians or sumthin. My mom had a monster cymbidium on her patio, but it would need a greenhouse here. I myself collect zygocactuses, the thornless temperate cacti that bloom in gorgeous colors from November to March. They can take a lot of abuse, a good thing around here. I love my plants but sometimes I have the attention span of a gnat. I also have an actual producing coffee tree that I had to move to the tall atrium at my office because it outgrew my high ceilinged living room. But no orchids.
You guys are super cool! Those shelves and amazing!
The room looks great! I love the inverted bookshelves. Would love to do that except I don’t think there’s available wall space around the house. Also, I should focus on properly arranging the books in my bookshelves first before even thinking of inverted bookshelves.
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That looks so cool. I’m so jealous. I’ve been trying to get my office together for the past year. I’ve managed to get it painted and the desk where I wanted. But that’s about it. My husband and I collect baseball caps and we have managed to collect over 150 from various places we’ve been and things we’ve done. I just can’t seem come up with an arrangement that I’m happy with before we start putting holes in the wall. While I do love to do demolition work, it’s good for stress relief (but generally I recommend demolition at someone else’s house, like Mom & Dad’s when they decide to redo their kitchen floor). Anyway, the room looks really cool. I love all the plants. I have absolutely no green thumb myself. Although I may have finally found a plant I might not kill. Aloe plant.
Although I think it looks totally cool, I am so glad about the disclaimer of not harming any actual books. I was worried. NO decorative look is worth destroying an Ilona Andrews book!
I have to give kudos to Gordon. My husband is a great guy, but it is almost his motto that, “I don’t care what color you want to paint, just don’t involve me in your project.” This means that on anything vaguely decorative he doesn’t want to be consulted OR considered a source of labor. The first part is awesome. Execution is sometimes a bi***.
Any flower or plant I have ever tried to grow has died. My soon to be hubby is fanatical about our yard and the house. Who would have thought a 35 year old tattoed tradie would obsess over the level of the lawn and the weeds in the garden. I am only aloud to renovate the kitchen and bathrooms when he has finished the outside, he claims ‘its all about street appeal babe’.
. I’m also not aloud to attach anything to the walls everything is attached via stickers and velcro, and paint any of the rooms until we have a kid and only then I have to pass it by him. Like I have bad style or something. I am not the one who looks like he is a mexcian drug dealer/dirtbike superstar covered in tattoos.
He built a sandstone retaining wall, releveled the front and back yards, new grass, new plants, and relayed the pavers out the back in the last year. This year the roof and garage has been painted the garage so that it better matchs the roof (not that anyone can see and who apart from google earth cares) and waiting on the gutters after which he wants to replace some of the drive way, respray it, and put a porch out the back.
I’m never getting my inside done