We found room!

Once again, Mr. Man is off to Chicago to work and while on his way to the airport, we worked on "fitting" the bookcase and the plant somewhere in our dinky unit. J-Pony and I-Dude cleared the living room for the bookcase while L-Infinity and I cleaned out the dining area for the plant. (I can't help it; Fall nears and I want our home to be cozy, cozy, cozy!)

Since HGTV's Design Star designer judges constantly tout the mantra of "big items in small spaces make more impact", I decided to do just that.

So... our cockatiel Dexter had to say goodbye to hubby's poster print of Mt. Bachelor and Cece's cat tree NEXT to the couch.
Look at how still he was in making sure L-Infinity got his good side. LOL
After we cleaned up the dining area and the low bookcase/buffet/dinnerware depot, I spiffed up the shelves as well...
See the plant, it is now by the window and the platter is now red, no longer the green Bordallo Pineapple platter. It's on the top shelf now (on the picture above).
As for Mr. Man's framed print? I put it on top of the simplified mantle. I took down the gold framed mirror because for some reason, the actual mirror just doesn't get cleaned anymore. (sorry about the big glare, it was our overhead light.)
And between the mantle and the couch, I placed the tall bookshelf! The top shelf is sparse because that's Mr. Man's shelf to fill when he gets back. I placed the three main things he loves: Our Savior, his family and the aviation industry.
The other shelves, I filled with our chosen HARD COVER collected series, from Rowling to the abridged classics. And we're not done with most of them. I can't wait to finish out each series in hard cover so they can last longer. At the top, I placed our iron candelabra and fall candles from last November. I placed family pictures that used to be on the mantle, in front of the books to create interest.

So what do you think? Would HGTV designers approve or would they balk at it? You know what, SO WHAT? It's my space and I know it looks good. And cleaner too!