Tylko the Shelf

It’s funny how life works, isn’t it. You come into the world with diddly-squat but ten fingers and a tuft of hair; you don’t even bother grabbing a goody bag on your way out of the uterus, and then you cry about it. #Millennial. As you grow older, material things of unknown origin somehow get allotted to you. For me, a stuffed bunny/bear/rat thing, appearing like a mirage in the first few years of my life, onto which I dedicate a good chunk of my childhood and a bit of my soul – like a true heir of Slytherin. And of course that pile of lego I share with my brother, which is displayed in a transparent movers-box from IKEA (in case it – I dunno – is robbed by that hag, tooth fairy). Then you become a teen and all you want to display is the stacks of CD-RWs you illegally burned. It’s a Carrie Bradshaw logic, I like my money where I can see it – hanging in my [open] closet.

Display is everything. Correction, WAS everything. It’s alarming how quickly it changed overnight. I’d exhibited my entire shoe collection in the living room at one point during uni, mostly because I simply didn’t own any storage space to speak of, but truly everything was purposefully on show for myself to see and celebrate. Then I woke up one regular day in 2018 (yes it’s recent) and all I wanted was: doors.

We found another home in Copenhagen not six months back, and have been routinely organising and hiding all our belongings behind closable doors since. I don’t know if it’s age, something psychological, or simply the fact that I subconsciously (and mentally) hope to retire from dusting, but we applied Less is more approach to every single room and haven’t been happier.

Alas, there’s always that one ‘ETC’ room where every article from every butt-end of a list end up in, while still somewhat too essential to retire tothe cellar. Articles like: bike repair kits, empty cardboard boxes – you know, articles of ‘just in case, pending, maybes’: the dry cleaning, post office packages, summer stuff, winter stuff…etc (literally, et cetera). It carries the same logic as the infamous man drawer, except everything is bigger and you still need to do your makeup and get dressed in the same space as all your dead batteries, foldable A-Z maps and outdated Nokia phones because you don’t live in a 15-bedroom mansion. (I don’t, anyway – do you?)

Tylko, Polish word for only or merely, is a new generation furniture brand that marries customisation and ease. Think of it like 3D printing your personalised Sims room. Based out of Warsaw, the concept is ridiculously simple: design, order, assemble. No drills or frills required. The manual is printed precisely for your design and the label stickers on each panel peel off like butter. You may need a buddy, but only to lift the unit with – and to high-five with, after. I fashioned mine to fit precisely in a tricky cove in the ETC room, measured the compartments so that my MUJI makeup drawers fit precisely behind doors, and installed easy drawers for other knick-knacks. Yes, we installed more doors in our life, and let me tell you this – It sparked joy.