This was such a quick and easy upgrade that I don’t think I can actually call it a “project.”  However, right now, at this moment, it is making me 100x happier than my painted windows which took infinitely longer to complete.  We should all have easy projects like this in our life!

But let me back up.  A couple of months ago, Brad and I were able to take what we wanted from my Dad’s old records before the rest went to the nonprofit that I work for as a donation. I didn’t intend to start a record collection (I’m not a hipster) but there was something sentimental about them being from my Dad, and he has great taste so there were a lot that we wanted.  Thanks, Dad!

However, that opened up the question: where to put them?

For quite a while they just sat in a pair of my Dad’s old crates in the dining room.  Our dining room is only about half furnished with mismatched pieces, so this really didn’t do much for the overall look.  We call it “clutter chic.”

Then, to make matters worse, my parents sent me home with the rustic crates that we had used to support the tall flower arrangements at Abby’s wedding.  (To be fair, these were my crates and I had irresponsibly been leaving them in my parent’s basement for years…)

I picked these up at an antique shop many years ago, well before I had a house and a blog, and before I had really figured out my style.  Since then I’ve moved pretty far away from the rustic, shabby chic look, so I was at a loss for what to do with them now.

However, that didn’t mean that I was motivated to carry these downstairs to the basement where they wouldn’t be in the way.  So these were cluttering the dining room, too, when I finally realized that by combining these two problems, I would solve them both!  It only took about five minutes to stack the crates on their side and load the records in.

This is actually working pretty well for me!  It probably isn’t my permanent storage solution, but I could very well keep it this way for years.  It fits the space and I think it looks pretty good.  The rest of the room doesn’t have any rustic elements, so I am kind of loving having this bit of contrast.

With the records now accessible, I wanted something to play them on.  (If you give a mouse a cookie…) However, I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on a habit I wasn’t even planning on taking up, so I spent a bit of time researching affordable record players.  Crosley is the most prominent option and is EVERYWHERE, but as I was looking around I realized that I wanted a clear dust-cover, so I could have it closed but still see the record while it was playing.  I also don’t love the suitcase look – just a personal preference.  I almost bought this Audio-Technica option from Urban Outfitters – and still think it is quite pretty in crisp white – but decided that it is more than I was willing to spend.

I ulitmately decided to go with the Ion Max LP (affiliate link – read our policies), which I found on Amazon for about $85.

It was reveiwed for decent sound quality, and I liked the natural wood and that it has built-in speakers but also can be hooked up to external speakers if I decide to go that way in the future.  I also liked that it comes with the software to convert records into digital files, so we can load these onto our computer and have them on the go if we want to.

It was super easy to set up, and is so far working really well!  I am not a snob about these things at all, but to me it sounds like music.  And it is plenty loud enough to be heard throughout the house if we want.

I am enjoying playing records more than I thought I would.  Maybe I AM a hipster, because I think this is a nice little set-up to have hanging out in the dining room!  How very blogger…

Do you listen to records?  Do you think there is really a big difference in sound, like people claim?