Erin & Chad 7: Reckless Behavior in a Pandemic Has Consequences

[ophelia]

I'm following a mennonite mom on Youtube and you can see books turn around as a decoration in her living room as well. I've only watched her older videos so far (from 2019) so this was probably a thing on pinterest a few years ago and I (as always) missed it. Not that I care though..

[fluffernutter]

That's one decorating trend I just can't wrap my head around. I love to decorate- my 30 year old degree that I only used for a few years is in interior design ?-  but I love clean lines, as little clutter as possible, and 2-3 times a year do "30" challenges, where I go through the house and find 30 things we no longer use or like or have read or don't fit to donate or give away. She's already in tight quarters, with a lot of people... yeah. Not for me. I'd go insane. 

[FluffySnowball]

4 hours ago, OHFL2009 said:

I was watching HGTV last night and the designer was staging a den/living room that had a bunch of open shelves, and she goes "If you want a cheap and easy way to fill some space, go to the thrift store and buy hardback books that fit your color scheme. It doesn't matter what the titles are, just turn them around so the spine isn't showing and no one will know!" Apparently Erin is a trend setter ?

That’s so ridiculous it’s funny! Who would do such a thing???

And I’m equally surprised people don’t have enough own books they might want to display (turned around or however they want). 

Also, I like my books kinda organized: my theology books are all in one shelf, my cookbooks in a different one, my English and German books have their own spaces, and I try to group them together according to different themes (English crime novels, German crime novels, E and G romance, biographies, travel literature, etc.) 

[OHFL2009]

3 minutes ago, FluffySnowball said:

That’s so ridiculous it’s funny! Who would do such a thing???

And I’m equally surprised people don’t have enough own books they might want to display (turned around or however they want). 

Also, I like my books kinda organized: my theology books are all in one shelf, my cookbooks in a different one, my English and German books have their own spaces, and I try to group them together according to different themes (English crime novels, German crime novels, E and G romance, biographies, travel literature, etc.) 

This particular designer (Jennifer Todryk/No Demo Reno) doesn't strike me as the type of person that would have a large library of books at home. I like her show because they don't take the whole house down to the studs with a renovation budget of $150,000 and 2 months to complete like a lot of the shows. I get ideas of things I could do in a weekend project. But her personality reminds me a lot of Carlin; I don't get the impression that she's the type to spend a lot of free time reading. 

[QuiverFullofBooks]

11 hours ago, OHFL2009 said:

I was watching HGTV last night and the designer was staging a den/living room that had a bunch of open shelves, and she goes "If you want a cheap and easy way to fill some space, go to the thrift store and buy hardback books that fit your color scheme. It doesn't matter what the titles are, just turn them around so the spine isn't showing and no one will know!" Apparently Erin is a trend setter ?

So they match the color scheme but they’re turned around? Is the color scheme paper-edge beige?

[bal maiden]

Christ on a bike. Buying books irrespective of content, just to use as decor, is one of those things that feels so emblematic of end stage capitalism and the decline of the Enlightenment. 

[WiseGirl]

Books are for reading you pintrest decorators following trends (the "you" being the Batesessess). They should try opening one and reading about all the world has to offer beyond their narrow, bigoted, "Christian", racist, views.

*Note I don't think they are very Christian.

[rebeccawriter01]

18 hours ago, QuiverFullofBooks said:

So they match the color scheme but they’re turned around? Is the color scheme paper-edge beige?

You can still see the binding color on the edges and tops, etc. It would drive me insane. 

[SassyPants]

Frankly, I think facing books backwards is a messy eyesore. Pages aren’t necessarily uniform.

[clueliss]

I'm one who is slightly annoyed at The Home Edit for the whole arrange your books by color bit of late.  Because I tend to arrange mine by topic or author.  So, nope, not doing it by rainbow colors.  So this - with the backwards book?  Heck to the no.

[Jackie3]

On 4/24/2021 at 3:26 AM, bal maiden said:

Christ on a bike. Buying books irrespective of content, just to use as decor, is one of those things that feels so emblematic of end stage capitalism and the decline of the Enlightenment. 

I think of the authors of those books--pouring their hearts out and imagining their readers' reactions. I wonder how it'd feel to know their work is being used in this way?

[NoKidsAndCounting]

I'm smiling thinking of Erin possibly picking up some book at a thrift store that might be anti-fundamentalist Christian and simply turning it around because she liked the color.  Then later, she somehow realizes that she picked up a copy of something "naughty." "Honey....what's this Kama Sutra?  Do you know?  I just got it because it matched the living room."

[CanadianMamam]

On 4/27/2021 at 11:58 AM, clueliss said:

I'm one who is slightly annoyed at The Home Edit for the whole arrange your books by color bit of late.  Because I tend to arrange mine by topic or author.  So, nope, not doing it by rainbow colors.  So this - with the backwards book?  Heck to the no.

A friend of mine suggested this for me when I was redoing our living room and everyone here was horrified. I did end up sorting my books by topic and then size within a KalAx.

[bal maiden]

I tried the sorting by colour thing, and it did look pretty. But it very quickly got on my nerves not having books of the same type on topic stored together. I think the storage by colour thing is for people who aren't regular readers, or who don't use books for reference. 

[AussieKrissy]

I couldn’t do the colour thing because I like a series to be in order. My Harry potters all over the place... yeah nah. 

[SassyPants]

Having downsized our home, I don’t really own many physical books. Our son does have a large bookcase full of classics stored in one of our spare bedrooms, but for the most part I have gone virtual. It’s just so much easier. The library and virtual or audio books are my jam.

[CanadianMamam]

I did carefully select which books are displayed in the living room. It’s a mix of cookbooks, graphic novels and history books. So the prettiest books and ones that make good conversation starters. But I wouldn’t display books just to have them. 

On a similar note, I was telling the same friend who advised displaying my books by color that I was also putting some vinyl albums in the kalax and she enthused that vinyl was a very popular aesthetic and she was hitting up a thrift shop looking for some. I was like “well, these were my dads and I want to play them...” I don’t have anything just for aesthetic . 

[fluffernutter]

This is sort of off-topic but has anyone read a book called The Swedish Art of Death Cleaning? I think that's what it's called. My one friend knew I was into the idea of minimalism and fussy about bringing too much stuff into the house (she's the opposite so we often talk about this). Anyway she was on a business trip and came across this book. It was really interesting. It's essentially about cleaning up your house in a way that makes it really easy for your loved ones to eventually take care of your stuff once you pass away. More geared towards older folks. I really really wish my grandparents and parents had had this attitude. We recently cleaned out my grandmother's house that became my parents house and no one got rid of anything. It took months and months. Many rented dumpsters, sales, donations, etc. It was hard work and we spent so much time and money on it. We are trying to nudge my husband's parents to downsize and start taking care of this stuff too. They still have baby furniture and their kids' toys in their house and their youngest is 42  ?

[neuroticcat]

On 4/8/2021 at 6:14 PM, indianabones said:

They all have PAI (Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor Type 1 Deficiency). It's considered a fairly rare disorder.

I believe they also have MTHFR mutation which is quite common but not always treated with blood thinners in pregnancy. Unfortunately many of these clotting disorders aren’t tested for until multiple miscarriages/losses. 

In that sense it’s fortunate the women all know and can get tested to treat proactively as it can be dangerous for baby and mother. 

[theotherelise]

Sometimes I flip all my one year old’s books so the pages are facing out. He knows exactly which spines are on his current obsession books and sometimes I just really don’t feel like reading Brown Bear Brown Bear 10 times in a row. 

He doesn’t even notice and just pulls them all out and finds brown Bear and I read it 10 times because I can’t say no to my little reader! 

I was already itching to do a spring donation clean out. Now I’m feeling it even more!

[FluffySnowball]

On 4/29/2021 at 7:53 PM, fluffernutter said:

This is sort of off-topic but has anyone read a book called The Swedish Art of Death Cleaning? I think that's what it's called. My one friend knew I was into the idea of minimalism and fussy about bringing too much stuff into the house (she's the opposite so we often talk about this). Anyway she was on a business trip and came across this book. It was really interesting. It's essentially about cleaning up your house in a way that makes it really easy for your loved ones to eventually take care of your stuff once you pass away. More geared towards older folks. I really really wish my grandparents and parents had had this attitude. We recently cleaned out my grandmother's house that became my parents house and no one got rid of anything. It took months and months. Many rented dumpsters, sales, donations, etc. It was hard work and we spent so much time and money on it. We are trying to nudge my husband's parents to downsize and start taking care of this stuff too. They still have baby furniture and their kids' toys in their house and their youngest is 42  ?

Wasn’t a Brooklyn 99 episode about this Swedish approach? I faintly remember Amy wanting to get rid of Terry’s suspenders and citing some Scandinavian death cleaning method. 

Anyways, I assume the method works for people who are able to consciously deal with their own mortality. For others, and/or very sentimental people who e.g. want to keep their kids’ baby furniture, etc. it might not be a good fit. 

[G33kywife]

Late to the book topic, but I have organized the kids’ books in our playroom by color for years! I love the playful look it creates in the space. My personal books don’t have any specific organization method though. Most are tucked into drawers, but I keep a handful stacked on my end table that I’m reading through. 
 

I love the idea of organizing with your own passing in mind. I will be the executor of my parents’ estate when the time comes, and I am honestly already dreading the thought of sorting through everything. They are organized people, but have SOOO much stuff. Hopefully they each have another 20-30 years though, and I can convince them to work now on paring down their belongings!

[Botkinetti]

I can tell you from experience that it is much easier to get rid of things before someone passes away because there is much less sentimental attachment. You are able to see things as simply objects that may or may not be useful rather than as something that a parent loved and so should come home with you.

Many people also downsize at some point and my husband and I probably will too. I have used that rationale to go through my house and get rid of tons of stuff, donating whatever seems useful for others. It does feel freeing to do this now rather than later.

[FiveAcres]

8 hours ago, Botkinetti said:

I can tell you from experience that it is much easier to get rid of things before someone passes away because there is much less sentimental attachment. You are able to see things as simply objects that may or may not be useful rather than as something that a parent loved and so should come home with you.

Many people also downsize at some point and my husband and I probably will too. I have used that rationale to go through my house and get rid of tons of stuff, donating whatever seems useful for others. It does feel freeing to do this now rather than later.

When I get rid of stuff, I keep telling myself I am creating space.

[JillyO]

On 5/4/2021 at 8:00 PM, theotherelise said:

Sometimes I flip all my one year old’s books so the pages are facing out. He knows exactly which spines are on his current obsession books and sometimes I just really don’t feel like reading Brown Bear Brown Bear 10 times in a row. 

He doesn’t even notice and just pulls them all out and finds brown Bear and I read it 10 times because I can’t say no to my little reader! 

Brown Bear Brown Bear is my 9-month-old’s favorite too! She crawls over to our bookshelf, picks it out among all her other books, and brings it to us. It’s too cute, so of course we read it for the seven millionth time. ☺️