I've been in the new place for about a week now, and I set the white bookcases up behind the sofa, wanting to brighten the space. I had aligned them against the wall in a straight line (as one does), and it was decidedly
blah. The light seemed to all get sucked into the corner under the stairs and just kind of die. I was too tired to solution the problem, and simply went to bed, thinking that maybe the whole arrangement needed to be shifted and rethought, which would involve moving all the bookcases, a prospect I wasn't in the mood to entertain.
Then this morning I took one of the narrow bookcases and set it at an angle, making a corner. I stepped back into the kitchen to make tea and looked back into the living room, and the effect was just what I was after. The white bookcase picked up the ambient light and reflected it back into the space in a way that is welcoming and lovely. Hurray for small successes in the adventures of moving.
Of course this means I need a couple more bookcases, because when would it ever not mean that?
