Stuff and Other Stuff

My grandmother will be selling her house in the near-to-distant future, so she's begun to give away her stuff. Now, it's always a little scary when an old person close to you starts thinking they're not going to need there possessions anymore, but it's also kind of annoying when they force said stuff on you. I mean, what on earth am I going to use Christmas trivets for? I kept telling her I don't have room for half the stuff she was trying to give me, but she kept saying, "But you'll need it for when you have your own apartment*!"

Which kind of got me thinking about the future. Where could I picture myself living once my life is supposedly in order? Boston, London, or Paris if I can swing it, but any kind of funky yet not dangerous neighborhood in a city will suffice. And, whether apartment or townhouse, I know I don't want anything that fits the suburban definition of a yard. And as for the inside, I'm thinking something boho vintage with a fun side. (So my aunt's childhood make-up table is definitely out. Especially since my grandmother spray-painted it white.) But there's one room in my future home that I've had planned out meticulously for a very long time, the way some women plan their dream weddings when they're little girls: My Study.

Why is my study so important? For one thing, if I end up doing what I really want to do, I'll do most of my work at home, so I'll need a workspace separate from bathing space, eating space, vegging in front of the TV space, etc. For another, if I end up doing My Second Choice: The Fail Safe Option, I'll have an office at work, but there will be stuff I need to do at home--like grading papers, blech. Furthermore, if I'm not living alone with my 20 cats and end up with a significant other/husband and, God forbid, children, I will need a safe-haven from the outside world, a place to call my own.

My Ideal Study/Library/Home Office

• Floor. Hardwood, of course. What else would you find in a funky-yet-not-dangerous neighborhood? Plus, carpet and allergies really don't mix.
• Rug. Need not match anything else in the room, but should be reasonably soft for getting down on my hands and knees to race R2-D2 and K-9. Uh, I mean, for rug rats to play on while I work. Yeah... *coughs*
• Window. With a view of a Boston/London/Paris street. Unless the neighbors are interesting, that is.
• Door. Locks.
• Wall. Covered with fanish posters, including the ones I have now, Rolling Stone covers, and funny pictures cut out of magazines. So basically, like every dorm room I've every had.
• Couch. Comfortable and old, though not smelly. To be covered with a tapestry, so ugly is OK. If space does not permit, then may be substituted by a papasan chair.
• End table. To hold a lamp and glasses/pop cans/beer bottles.
• Beanbag chair. Preferably tye-dyed. For playing video games or listening to music with headphones.
• Desk. Has a hutch, on which will be stored reference books, binders, data backup, software, and old journals. There will be drawers to hold office stuff in a not-to-orderly fashion. On top of the desk will be my Mac, one of those printer/scanner/fax machine combo thingies, and various nicknack's to play with while I'm bored.
• Desk chair. One of those ergonomic things.
• Lamp. I thought that corner needed something.

And now the fun stuff:

• CD rack. For all my Cds, so it will be very large.
• Entertainment unit. Will hold a reasonably sized TV, gaming system that plays Blue Ray, region-free DVD/VCR combo, stereo (turntable, CD player, cassette, and iPod dock), and has storage space for games, TV shows, movies, and LPs and cassettes.
• Bookshelf 1. Floor to ceiling. This one holds all my sci-fi/fantasy stuff. I even have plans for how I want it all set up. I'm keeping fandoms together, and they will be in alpha order (with one exception). For example: Buffy--DVDs then the Season 8 comics, Harry Potter--books then movies, X-Files--TV with the movies thrown in at chronologically correct places. After all that will be misc. sci-fi books. Finally, all the Doctor Who (and related spin-offs) will be at the bottom since there's a lot of it. I'll probably organize it by media (Doctor Who episodes in order, then SJA, then Torchwood, then audio adventures by number, then books by series and number), though it would be tempting to try to put everything in order of the Doctor's personal chronology.... Finally, most of my action figures will be displayed on this shelf.
• Bookshelf 2. Floor to ceiling. For literature. To be organized by Dewey Decimal, but I probably won't divide by nationality. Children's lit and comic books not on Bookshelf 1 will be on the bottom where little brats (mine or otherwise--hopefully otherwise) can reach them. Also, will display literary/historical action figures.
• Bookshelf 3. Floor to ceiling. Non-fiction. Overflow of grown-up books from the other shelf, books on writing, literary theory, film books, and then everything else by subject. Will display things that don't fit either the category or space of other surfaces.

So, how does your ideal study stack up? Do you have other aspects of your "grown up" abode planned out already? And, yes, I suppose you can describe that wedding you've been planning since you were three. Discussion is always welcome.

*Let it be said that I actually have my own apartment now. What she means is when I have a "real" apartment payed for by salary from a "real" job. As if the 12+ course hours a semester, 10-20 hours a week of work, and the studying isn't difficult at all.