Shelving solutions.

I promise this post will be more exciting than the already upbeat title.

We had a problem. A modem and cord problem to be exact, and it looked something like this:

For a while, the messy cords lived on the floor, then mostly inside a crate on the floor hidden from the public eye. But then I was inspired to take that very crate, paint it (of course) and hang it right on the wall thanks to seeing this idea last month from A Cat and the Fiddle occasional market.

You will recall that I painted it yellow and baby blue and hated it (as seen here, but seriously, it was ugly, so you can just take my word.).

I went green this time, using none other than the original kitchen paint the previous owners left for us in the basement. And then I hung it on the wall. Simple as that!

This particular phone jack (now hidden by the crate) happens to be the only one that worked to plug the modem into (or so Louis says). Ah, so good to have that little corner of floor space back! Mess of cords begone!

This wasn't my first attempt at a shelf solution. I had hoped a corner one would work out. It didn't fit because of the molding. So I tried a simple floating shelf. It wasn't deep enough. Rather than return a shelf for the second time, I kept it.

And it lives not too far away from the crate shelf. A chalk ledge!

Normally the eraser and chalk sit on the slab of granite atop the radiator below, but it was time to give them a proper home. {Between the chalkboard, coat hooks, and sunny South-facing window, I adore this little corner of our home!} 

I wanted the shelf to be more flush with the board, but it wasn't particularly easy to hang. I'm also fond of the fake antique can we keep the chalk in. And yes, I do update the "menu board" every week. These things have to be planned!