Happy Hour : Oh, that Wire Shelving

Every been in a restaurant when it turns "Happy Hour?" You notice the mood instantly changes as everyone is ready for fun. Whenever I'm having a Bad Hair Day, my cure is always a personal Happy Hour. Of course, I'm hopeless addicted to interiors; so for me, this hour is all about decorating. In this series, we'll look at some quick and happy mood changers for our very own Happy Hour. Each should take about an hour - a mere 60 minutes - to perk up our minds and our rooms. Let's get the party started.

You know how you're tired of something in one of your rooms but you can't figure out what to do? That's almost a daily feeling for me, but last week, I took action. Let's see what happened during my Happy Hour .

For 21 years, I've had this white wire shelving from Home Base (remember those stores?) with a hodge podge of favorites crammed on the shelves. At 18" deep x 48" wide x 72," the shelving was the prefect size but direct sunlight took its toll and it was starting to look orange and yellow in spots.

I looked long and hard for some kind of replacement shelving - custom cabinet, wood shelves, even iron shelves. Last week I thought, "Maybe I don't have to be Miss Fancy Pants." A quick trip to Lowe's and $90 later, I had my new shelving - the ubiquitous chrome shelving, found in every commercial kitchen and home pantry. Hmm, so what to put on the shelves? The old white shelving was crammed with all kinds of stuff, an earthquake disaster to be sure. I was ready to let the shelves "breathe."

I limited my stuff to two of my little "collections" - 1940's laundry baskets (mostly picked up at the Alameda Flea Market) and hundred year old stone crocks. Some of these crocks were made by my grandfather, Hans Jacobsen when, as a young man and a new immigrant from Norway, he worked at Pacfic Stoneware in Portland, OR. As a kid, we used them around the house, too. Every summer, my mom and dad made root beer in the largest one.

My mom always used the bowl for her bread dough to rise. One crock didn't make the cut and is now relegated to a closet as an umbrella stand. Its offense? A Marshall, TX crock with a pinkish tone and blue stripes (see before photo where I tried to paint the blue bands white). I thought it all looked better with the same crock color palette. Gotta love a Happy Hour edit that provides some breathing room especially when sheltering in our rooms.