As you probably know by now, one of my (not so guilty) pleasures is interior design. I’m an HGTV junkie with a love of old homes in need of a little TLC. I have stacks of decorating magazines by the bed and subscribe to various design round-ups that are delivered to my email box each week.
There’s one trend that appeared quite a bit amongst all these venues in 2012, one I really hoped was going to disappear in the new year. Yet, here is a photo that was delivered to my in- box today from HGTV.
Lovely, right? I agree. I love the way they made use of this rather challenging room (proportion-wise). Love the colors. Who wouldn’t love that amazing window? Notice anything strange, though, in front of that window? Perhaps five, 10- to 12-foot high stacks of books? Yes, my friends, if you are new to do-it-yourself design, books are the new, (not really, though, since people have been displaying books since they’ve existed) low cost accessory. As a writer, I say, awesome! Buy books! Display them! Most of all…read them!
But, as a parent prone to anxious episodes whereby something heavy might fall on my little ones’ heads, I beg you, designers, please stop already with the ridiculous book towers. I’ve seen nearly identical displays in photo spreads with toddlers in the picture. Who are they kidding? How long do you think it would take a toddler, or heck, an adult even, to have these books on the floor?
The accompanying article suggests that this is a great way to store your books, sans shelves, indicating that these are books you might currently be reading (not just display-only items). So, you know, if you really want that copy of Moby Dick, you’ll find it at the bottom of that stack second from the left, the one that’s going to crash into the window if you breathe on it. And your toddler? Well, I’m sure there must be a copy of Goodnight Moon in there for her somewhere. Let’s just take that Fisher-Price bat and give all these stacks a good whacking.
Okay, this silly rant is almost done. But, let me just add that it’s “trends” like this that keep parents from thinking they can have beautiful things and young children at the same time. I’m a fan of practicality, in all things, but especially in home design.
In 2013, and forever more, don’t let this be your living room. Egads, just the sight of this makes me go all twitchy..