living room

so part of moving for me has been trying to figure out where everything i have is going to go. i moved from an 850 square foot apartment with lots of closets to a 750 square foot house with pretty much no storage space on the main floor(it does have an unfinished basement but it smells and is dungeony with spiders, eek!). i have also come to realize that some of my furniture just does not fit with the space. my couch and a desk were the only pieces of furniture i purchased specifically because i knew that they would work with the house and how small it was. some of my furniture that were staples before are now proving to just not work with the space.

for example, let's talk about my living room.

i really like this space, and think it has a lot of potential. problems that i face with this room are that dang book shelf and the fireplace which takes up almost half of the largest wall-not to mention that little nook next to it that i just can't figure out what to do with.

 this book shelf was purchased at target years ago when i was in high school. i just needed a place for all my books(this isn't all of them, you should see my bed side table). it's worked just fine for it's purpose until now. that wall is the only one that is wide enough and doesn't have a vent behind it(i thought it didn't have a vent behind it... turns out it does). my grandma has shown some interest in it, so it will probably end up at her house. as for what would happen to my books once i hock it, i have lots of ideas(thanks pinterest!)

this little corner is my main focus. the only thing that's going on over there right now is that fabric basket where i keep my blankets. it's only downfall is that vent because it's the main source of AC in this room since my bookcase is blocking the other one(i guess that problem would be eliminated once i got rid of it though... i found a super cute shelf on urban outfitters that would work perfect for that corner because it would allow for air flow from the vent while still being able to hold all my books and fit in the space. it's only downfall is that at $169 it is at least triple the price of my current book shelf. 

my other idea would be to frame the walkway into the dining room with book shelves. depending on the type of wood and brackets that i bought to mount said shelves it could be a pricy endeavor. but according to pinterest that seems like the ideal way because the pictures i found are ADORABLE. go to pinterest and type in "over door shelving". you'll want to do it too. anyway, i am so conflicted on what the best option is. the fact that this is a rental deters me from installing shelving that could leave some big holes in these 1920's walls, but they're so cute and functional that i have a feeling my landlord might like the idea of reducing my rent for a month so he could keep them in the property after i leave. who knows.

what do you guys think? i would love your opinions-both about the shelves and decorating in general! let me know in the comments below!