New House, New Bookshelves
Hey everybody!
Welcome to the last post of 2022; if you aren't aware, I take December and July off from content creation to focus on other things, so you won't see another blog post or video from me until January 2023 (don't worry, I've got some exciting stuff planned for that return). Today, I want to share some updates about my new house, specifically the area where I read, record, and store my precious books. If you want to see the entire process of creating that reading space from start to finish, check out today's video, which I'll link below. If you only care about the end result, then keep on reading!
Paint It Black
The first thing I did when I got my house? Paint it black. Everything. Walls, ceiling, and trim, all black! It was a lot of work, probably the most work I've done on a house in my life, just given the sheer scope of it. I haven't even touched the second floor yet, but the second floor needs significantly more help than a mere coat of paint can give to it.
I've always loved black or white homes' sleek, modern look. I previously thought that I would want to do a purely white house, but it turns out that's just not really my style anymore. I hope it doesn't suddenly become my style in the near future, given that painting white over black will be a HUGE pain in the butt.
Build the Shelf
Once everything was painted, I went to build my shelf. I got a great, solid bookshelf, which I'll link below if you're interested. Full disclosure: while the shelf itself is sturdy and looks great, it was a serious challenge to build it by myself. I managed, but it was not easy and I would definitely not do this alone, again. Only get it if you either love a good challenge or you have someone to help you!
Acoustic Paneling
The next thing I've done is add acoustic paneling to the corner. This will reduce some of the reverb coming back at the camera, but I also need to add some to other spots in the room to increase the dampening of the sound in the studio. This part turned out to be a real challenge because I didn't want to use the same stuff to stick the paneling to the walls that I did before, since it's nearly impossible to remove without damaging the wall. Unfortunately, every other method I've tried has failed; the panels keep falling off the walls. I'm going to have to use the extremely sticky stuff, and I'm going to have to deal with those consequences when I do.
Sigh.
Curtains
Next up come the curtains! I spent an absolutely ungodly amount on getting extremely nice curtains for my entire house. I've got a lot of windows (finally) and that means I need a lot of curtains. I wanted them all to be the same, so I picked these nice black curtains with gold foil designs. I'm a big fan of them and they look outstanding everywhere I've mounted them so far! I've still got a ton of these to hang up, but right now I'm taking a breather. I'll link them below in case you want them for yourself!
Lighting
Next up is, of course, lighting. I bought a great-looking fixture to replace the broken ceiling fan, but it turns out it uses GU10 bulbs. Now, I had never heard of this, so I didn't know what I was getting myself into. In the video, you'll see just how infuriating these lightbulbs are. I do not understand why we still use bulbs with this sort of socket. What a tremendous waste of time, effort, sweat, and money. I will absolutely never buy another fixture that uses bulbs like this.
Seriously, never.
Ridiculous.
However, I then followed up the installation of that fixture and those bulbs with a couple of my Philips Hue light strips! Now, I need a separate strip for each of the shelving units and I only have enough power banks for two strips. At the moment, only the top two shelves are lit, but soon I'll have lighting for all of them!
Well, soon-ish.
Hue strips are expensive.
Add the Books!
With everything else taken care of, it's finally time to add my books and decor! I unpacked more books than I expected I'd be able to--this bookshelf has a surprising amount of space on it! I also added a couple of lamps to the mix to help brighten the space up further, as well as plants and--of course--the Librarian got a feature. I went for a less chaotic vibe this time, given that the shelves are more modern looking than those I have before. I think it turned out pretty well! What do you think?
Conclusion
Everything is coming together for this house! It's a slow, exhausting process but a rewarding one. We're heading into winter so I expect that a lot of my work will slow down here shortly, but I'm also looking forward to some warm nights inside with my cat and (new) dog. Additionally, I'm stoked to record in this new space! There's so much more I can do now that I have a house all to myself, and I'm absolutely planning to take full advantage of that. I have so much natural light to play with, now!