Recently I'v been searching for a few additional pieces for 'the bachelor pad', aka Brian's Condo. A few little things that weren't in our initial budget but as things progressed and the condo was coming together, we decided there were a few more items he could afford to add to the space now rather than later (ok, mostly 'he' decided, I just happily agreed).
There's this blank wall space beside his kitchen that is in full view from the Living and Dining area, it definitely needed some attention, needed something more than a piece of wall art, but what? Since this is his first place, he doesn't have a lot of things to display or store, but eventually he will. His kitchen is a decent size but he could use a bit of extra space for larger items, extra glass ware or seldom used kitchen tools,,,,,and maybe a place to display some of his prized trophies,,,,,,,,or a liquor cabinet perhaps? We could go with something low and hang some artwork above (of which he doesn't have much at the moment) or a funky clock that I found,,,,,,or,,, we could go with a tall unit and use that for both display and storage. Either way it would need to be something ready made not custom made or special order.
So with few requirements in mind I started searching,,,,,,our only limitations were size and budget, of which both were small. Afterall, he just furnished the rest of the condo from scratch and now we were looking to spend more! As for the style, I had something metal in mind, prefferrably a raw metal with wood shelves, something that evoked a bit of a modern industrial feel. His kitchen cabinets are wood and the floor is wood too so I'd like to bring in some metal to break-up all that wood going on, but Brian's not a fan of too much shiny polished chrome or nickel. While searching for this and other things, I've scoured vintage shops, consignment shops, Craigs List and every store front I came across and nothing much fit the bill with regards to this shelving unit. I did come across a few industrial style cabinets but the prices were more than 4x our budget. At this point, its time to reassess. We need to make a selection from the options I did come across that were in our price range, even though it may not be exactly what we had in mind stylewise, or ,,,, adjust the budget - because its pointless to spend any more time looking for something that doesn't exist. Here are our top picks and purely by coincidence, (?) they're all from the same source.
The Fulton Bookcase from Crate & Barrel
This unit had it all going on.....except the price. $699 US
The Pilsen Bookcase from Crate & Barrel $249 US
This one worked as far as size goes and price was right, but I wasn't lovin it.
The Drake shelving unit from Crate & Barrel, $299 US
This one is similar to the Pilsen above but I like the cross-bracing detail which gives it that touch of industrial style. So far this one is our top pick for price and style, although Brian's ultimate preference would be wood instead of glass shelves.
The Antenna Bookcase by Crate & Barrel, $279 US
I thought this one was interesting,,,and no glass shelves (!) but we both prefer the darker metal.
I was intrigued by the potential in this unit from Lowes, I envisioned it with some distressed or antique wood planks placed on the wire shelves, which could take it up a notch. But that would be a project, and Brian's not much of a DIY'er, so I've learned not to propose any DIY things to him unless I'm willing to DIM (do it myself!). Next.
And then... I came across these today.....
Industrial Metal Cabinet, with metal shelves behind glass doors with rivet detail.
And, this Low Metal Cabinet with mesh doors
It was an modern industrial love match! I was beyond excited - It was like finding buried treasure after months of hunting!! Except it wasn't finders keepers today. : ( I could only 'keepers' if Brian was willing to splurge because sadly these were over our budget - but not nearly as much as the other industrial style pieces I've come across. So, I didn't buy them today but I've sent him photos and we'll see if there's anyway he can possibly envision living without one of these. Whichever one we chose, I'll post pictures in the coming weeks of the cool new unit in its stylish new home.