You should all feel bad for me now.
I have tried and tried and tried to get the idea of this little beauty across to the fiance as a great storage idea.
But he wants nothing to do with it and continues to say the boxes are ugly. However, I am the (pretend) decorator and he knows nothing about decor so he obvi should listen to me.
My arguments for it are:
1. It's large and would fill the wall opposite his desk nicely. It is the perfect width, height and depth for the space- like it could not GET more perfect.
2. He has a TON of books and this is the only inexpensive thing that would be sturdy enough to handle them all. (that I can think of, any other tall/wide/sturdy/inexpensive suggestions are MORE then welcome - pleasethankyou)
3. A few labeled boxes/baskets on the bottom would be the perfect place to throw his mail and work receipts that I find ALL OVER THE HOUSE ON A DAILY BASIS! (can you tell I am fed up with his messiness today?)
4. Boxes and Baskets in the squares would all me to hide lots of crap- office supplies, chargers, etc etc and would make me super happy.
I know this room is not his style, but I was in awe that the bookcase holding all those lovely leather bound books is none other then the Expedit!
I even went so far as to plan out the bookcase and how I would organize it for him, but NO was still the answer.
(I obvi had some time on my hands when I did this)
So, cross your fingers I get the point across to him one way or another.
AND if you all have any other suggestions of a bookcase/storage-shelf-thing that is extra wide, tall-ish, and not too deep then I would LOVE them.
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29 comments:
Hey lady,
Have you tried to run the Lack bookcase by him?? It looks similar to the expedit but without all the boxes. Might want to give that a try! The parsons style of it is so sleek.
Good luck!
Alaina
what can I say, I have it and kind of love it!!
I say you do this: Pick a weekend/day he's out of the house, get the bookcase, style it the way you want, and wait for him to notice and tell you how wrong he was!! :-) Good Luck!!
Erynn, I LOVE that idea! I might have to get a friend to bring me (since he has the car all the time) and do this.
Best wishes, I understand your situation.
Using your vertical space is a great idea. I love how you outlined your plans for it. I am thinking I could use one of these in my laundry/dressing room (imagine all the folded t-shirts I could store in there ... one row for each of my four boys!)
what about the Ikea Lack bookcases from ikea? You could possibly do two of them and get some mega storage. I personally feel the same way and was not crazy about the boxes in this bookcase so I am getting the lack bookcases to make a divider wall in my apt. Good luck
hahah I love the male and female side to this. Good luck on this Girl friend. What would happen if it magically appeared in your home while he was gone? :-)
www.bazaarofserendipity.blogspot.com
i love the expedit bookcase i just bought, so im biased... i got it in black and put some magazine files and boxes with my books to break it up a bit and has turned out to be quite wonderful! maybe something with less shelves will make him cave...good luck!
Good luck convincing him he can't live without it!!! Keep pushing, he'll give eventually :) Or, do like I do, and wait till he's gone for a day or so and just buy it and assemble it, organize everything, and by the time he gets home, it's all done, he'll realize how awesome it is!
Totally feeling you on the decorating give-and-take. Have you left any of these pics lying around? http://www.elementsofstyleblog.com/2009/06/ikea-expedit-bookshelf-is-one-of-my.html
As a gal married to guy with strong opinions, if he says no, seriously don't do it while he's gone. He'll think you don't respect his opinions and then he won't trust you for future discussions. Just my two cents there (having been there!). :)
On the fun/practical side of actually getting the office organized, play designer/client. Ask him what his preferences are, what look he wants, how he wants it to function. That way he has some say and feels like he was part of the decision! You never know, he may come around to the Expedit, or maybe you'll land on something you both like more!
Several years ago, we found a wooden storage unit, on wheels with great storage and upper boxes which is wonderful. I love it. I say go for it and have it all organized and see if he notices?
pve
I am so glad that I am not the only one with this problem!!! Our "office" (i.e. junk room) is so much worse than yours. AND, my husband is a mini-pack rat, so he piles crap all over the house. It drives me insane!! I've thought about taking a day off work and going to town on our office, but as In the Tweeds said, I don't want to make him mad or hurt his feelings. Plus, most of the crap is his and I have no clue what to do with it all ('cuz if it was mine, I'd chunk it).
It's hard. I've played designer/client with him, but he wants a 1980's hunter green "golf" room. Seriously. Ugh. So, I'm slowly trying to incorporate a green like that into a more modern and better looking scheme. We'll see - it's an uphill battle.
So, good luck! Here's to finding a solution you don't hate. (This is the sad reality of marriage. You don't always get your way)
P.S. - I love your little diagram showing where everything would go!
Rachel, your husband sounds like my fiance- he is SET on hunter green and maroon! YUCK times ten, what is it with guys and their stuck in the 80's ways??
oh lord. let the man have that room. just put a curtain up:)
text me when you are available. I have a huge favor to ask you.
I wanted to do the same thing with the expedit but was afraid it might show all of my clutter.
Thinking about some floor to ceiling pantry cabinets from ikea (cheap, sleek white doors would make them look like built-ins and would hide my stuff so guests won't know how messy I am).
here's my recent post on clutter:
http://thegloriouspile.blogspot.com/2010/06/attempted-de-clutter-with-non-deadly.html
other than that, I think they make frosted glass doors for the Lack or you could do a hack of your idea like this:
http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/2009/07/expedit-bookcase-cover-up.html
good luck
Oh you poor thing!!! Ok I've been with my guy for 14 years now. Married 10. I'll start by telling you the good news. First, sooner than you think, he will no longer have ANY opinion on what you do with your home. Now for the bad news, he will STILL be leaving his CR*P all over the place! HA! ;)
omg, I am laughing out loud right now. And also love your diagram. now, i say maybe he'll be content with black? We'll steal my dad's truck, go buy the bookcase, put it together quickly (because everything at IKEA is easy to build, right?) then set it up like it was always there!
Oh c'mon...he HAS to let you get them after you made that fantastic diagram. How can you lose?!?!?!
And your argument sounds SO like one I've had with Dave. He's always so skeptical...but you know what? He almost always ends up loving it in the end and apologizing. So maybe you should just buy it, assemble it, and style it while he's gone and prove him wrong!
haha you are so funny!! i love how you made up a diagram to show the hubby..we are so alike. haha.
my husband is super opinionated and our styles clash badly (I'm like a relaxed beachy/colbie calliat music video set and he's a mix of japanese and european traditional... which is as ugly as it sounds)
so we just had to come to the compromise that he does whatever he wants in his office and the rest of it it mine.
just put ALL his stuff that you find laying around into the office until it becomes so messy that he has no choice but to do something about it and hopefully he'll seek out your help.
I'll have my husband call him. Janell
You're too funny! If he doesn't agree after this argument, then he's simply crazy!
PS: Hope you're fully recovered and feeling well!
My husband's policy is - as long as you dont bother me, do whatever you want!
If he knows whats good, he will give in! I mean you clearly have it all planned out (loving that)! What's he got against it?! I say go buy it when he is out of town or something clean it all up organize and then how could he not love it. :)
I adore this bookcase and my guy and I almost bought it {again} this past weekend while at ikea...but opted for new desks for our office....and then ended up redoing the entire room! Posting on that later this week once everything is back in it's place.
i heart expedit!!
Too funny! The expedit looks amazing in that room with the leather bound books. Some boxes mixed in would be even better. Hope he goes for it - he should after all the hard work you put into that great diagram!
Here's another hack for the expedit. Good luck!
http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/2010/05/super-swank-wall-o-shelves-dresser.html
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