Getting Cozy: Styling Bookshelves

Since talking about some of my favourite books last week, it got me looking at my bookcases, and more specifically, the shelves.

(Don't mind the 'messiness' on the bottom two shelves. Work in progress going on there...)

I personally, love decorating bookshelves, but I know for a lot of people, it is a daunting task. The reason I know this, is because when I browse Pinterest, there are tons of pictures dedicated to 'how to's' to styling bookshelves. 

My first suggestion is to start with a blank slate. Clear everything off the shelves and put everything on the floor or the coffee table. Start with your books. Push a few to the back of the bookcase so you have lots of space for your accessories. Stack some on top of each other, biggest to smallest. Tilt a few on their side.

When you are done with your books, then grab your accessories and picture frames and start placing them on the shelves. As you can see, I like to put a few frames and accessories (I like that word better than 'knick knacks') on top of stacked books.

Place some items on top of a stack of books. Don't be afraid of 'hiding' your books with putting accessories in front of the books. Layers allow the eye to see more than just your books. (Although books are nice. Believe me, I understand.)

Since my shelves have the pallet backing (you can read how we did that that here), I stuck a push pin into the back and hung a few of my hoop art and a clipboard with printable art. Again, it creates that layered look.

 

Now grab a blanket, a warm drink, and a book and make yourself cozy as you look at your freshly styled bookshelves!

This is day 9 of our Getting Cozy series. 

To catch up on the rest of the series, click below: 

Intro: Hello Fall

Day One: Cozy Cowls

Day Two: A Fall Mantle

Day Three: Harvest Vegetable Soup

Day Four: Favourite Fall Book List

Day Five: A Cozy Cowl Giveaway (Open till October 30th!) 

Day Six: Decorating with Nature

Day Seven: Kids' Style 

So Long Bookcase!

When Jesse and I were first looking at our home, we knew the kitchen needed a lot of work.

 

(This picture was taken after we moved in.) 

I had to move a bookcase in the kitchen just to allow for more storage. The cabinets were hideous as was (IS) the tile floor and there was a wallpapered backsplash that left little to be desired. 

I got to work and said goodbye to the wallpaper and painted the cabinets a nice creamy white.  I also redid the back of the bookcase just to give it a little more character.

Much better, but still the room needed something else. Well, as we know, I like to rearrange things, so the coffee maker and mugs moved to their own spot in the dining room. The bookcase was looking a bit emptier. I found a place for other things in the cabinets and soon I only had the jars and a few white pieces of dinnerware on the bookcase.

Melody mentioned one day that she had a nice stack of old barn boards in her garage and that I could have some! After giving the boards a light sanding, I bought some brackets, attached them to the boards and got rid of the bookcase. 

I can't believe how spacious the kitchen is now that the bookcase is gone! 

This project was the cheapest, most satisfying project that I think I have done around the house so far! Like the front door, I did this project during nap time. Unlike the front door, this project only took one nap time. :) Now I have storage, floor space, and something pretty to look at! 

Happy weekend! 

Getting Cozy

This past Monday, I was tired. My computer stopped working. We had a really busy weekend. And my house was messy from our busy weekend. But pregnant me, instead of sitting on my couch while my little one napped in the late afternoon, I decided to clean, organize and decorate for fall. Sure. Why not? 

 I found this cute free printable over at the blog, "it is what it is". 

Lentils in a jar, a faux wood candle holder and a cute picture of my little boy change the summer looking shelf into something a little warmer. 

An easy way to decorate for fall is with leaves. Now, these are fake (until I have time to get out and get some real ones), but putting leaves in a clear vase is simple and colourful. 

The other bookcase just got a clean up and a simple white jar with a (again fake...for now) sprig of leaves. 

After I was done, I then put my feet up and spent the evening relaxing and playing with Gavin. When my home is tidy and a looking at least a little organized, I feel like I can really relax and feel rested. Plus, I really love fall, so breaking out the small pumpkins and leaves was fun for me. :) 

Up next: the fireplace mantle. Nothing too fancy, but just a little change for the season. 

What about you? Do you do a little cozying up your home for the fall season? Anyone else love the mini pumpkins? 

(If you want to read up on the transformation of my bookcases or see what they looked like before I changed them up for fall, click here)

A Little Play Nook

Someday I would love to have a play space for our kids. Somewhere where they can draw on chalkboard walls, hang their pieces of art, read books in cozy areas, and play with their many blocks and cars. That day is not now, but I still wanted to find an area for Gavin that was a little bit hidden away. Not only so that his toys wouldn't be in plain view of the living room, but also so that he could have a little spot just for him. 

I thought I had a picture of the toy situation before hand, and of course I didn't take a picture before I started organizing and moving the toys. So this is as good as we will get. 

They use to be all piled up behind the couch and beside the couch. Not terrible, but they were definitely out of control. 

Gavin kept going into this corner of the living room, pulling books off the shelves, and creating a mess of things.

Perfect spot for a toy area. Hidden away and I could put his toys on the shelves. 

So that's what I did! I moved all the books off of the two shelves and brought out my stored away baskets.

I organized his toys and took out the baby things so I could clean them and get them ready for the new baby. 

All the board books went into one basket. Mega blocks went into a crate and small toys, like stuffed toys and balls, went into a flat basket above. 

His big toys, like the essential (to Gavin) hockey sticks, trucks, electric guitar, and small drum went into a larger basket on the floor.  

I'm happy with the toys being out of the way and organized (for now). He's happy with his play area (or 'nook') and that he can see all of his toys.

Maybe someday we'll have the fancy play room, but for now, we are using the space that we have. 

Where do your kids' toys go? Do you have a designated play room or do you put the toys in baskets on the floor like I do? 

P.S. I'm cleaning my bathroom today so I'm planning on showing you the finished project next week! 

{DIY} Rustic Bookshelves

On Saturday, I told you I had a couple projects up my sleeve that needed to be done around the house. Ready for the first one? 

On Saturday afternoon, my husband and I (but actually just my husband. I cooked lunch while he was working on this project) got to work on revamping our cheap bookshelves. 

These puppies have been through a lot. They first started as a cherry veneer. Then I painted them brown. Then I painted them white. Then I put contact paper on the backs of them. What can I say? I like to change things up a lot. 

Then I saw this idea: 

  {source}

Please don't pin this picture from here. You can click the picture to go right to the source and then pin it. I don't want people to think I made that beautiful bookcase!  Thanks! 

The wheels started turning and I realized I could use my old bookshelves and simply use pallets to cover the backs. It would make them sturdier AND give them a little rustic flare.

After scouring around town looking for free pallets and only finding them when I was on a walk (pretty difficult to carry one of those things home while pushing a stroller), Faith called me up and said she knew where we could get some free pallets. Sweet! 

Jesse was gracious and went along with my idea although he wasn't all for it at the time. After we measured the back of one of the bookshelves, he got to work pulling the pallets apart and cutting each board down to fit the backs. Let me just tell you, that wasn't the most fun job that I have ever put before him, but he got it done! We brought the shelves outside and he used his nail gun to attach each board to the back. 

And just in case you are questioning why two shelves aren't covered with boards, we ran out of wood, but you can't tell because the books hide the emptiness. (If we want to later we can get more pallets and finish it up)

Here they are all prettied up:

 I actually pared down some of my books and items that were on the shelves so that things didn't look so busy. Here is what they looked like before I decluttered: 

And after!

One more close up: 

I am loving this rustic look. After they were all done, Jesse even admitted that he thought they didn't look too bad. :) 

 

I have one more project to show you...but you can see that on Saturday. This one I am very happy about!! 

Pallets. Who knew that they would be more useful than just keeping things up off the ground? 

Want some more bookshelf reading? Check out what Melody did to her bookshelf a little while ago.  

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Bookshelf Makeover

Since I've been redecorating my home office (hopefully the finished product will be up next week!), I've been repurposing furniture from around my house to keep the costs down and to freshen up some other spaces. One of the pieces that I snagged from another room was a bookshelf that I inherited from.. somewhere.

Originally it was a natural pine colour, which is fine since its a great piece but it didn't really go with anything. I ended up spray painting it (I know, big surprise!). So for a while it just sat black and boring but I wanted to do something interesting with it. I was seeing all over blogland and decorating magazines that you can put wallpaper on the back of them. That sounded great to me except that I have a fear of wallpaper ever since one of the houses that we lived in had over 24 different wallpapers all over the house - but that's another story.

So I didn't want to use wallpaper because I have commitment issues, so I decided instead to see what fabric I had since fabric is so much easier to remove. I had this perfect grey floral that has been sitting there for a while and decided it would be great for this project. Plus it matched with the curtains I made and the overall colour scheme of my office, bonus!

To do this to your own bookshelf you'll need mod podge, a paint brush, fabric scissors, an iron, and a good amount of space.

First, iron your fabric. I hate ironing personally, but trust me, it will look so much better if you do. Carefully take the back panel of your bookshelf off and trace it onto your fabric. Cut your fabric out. Put small amounts of mod podge onto the panel and place your fabric down on it, smoothing out the bubbles as you go. When you are done attaching your fabric to the back panel, wait a few minutes for the glue to dry before attaching it back on your bookshelf. It really is a fantastically easy project that only took about 15 minutes from start to finish! I can't believe how it brightens the whole bookshelf!

What do you think?

Linked up with Centsational Girl Spring Craft Link Party

A Splash of Colour

Sorry for the lateness of this post today, but it has been so beautiful outside!

We went to the park, 

and played on the swings! 

Because of this gorgeous spring, (feeling more like summer than spring) weather, I was able to break out the spray paint! 


After finding this picture: 

{source} 

I decided that my living room needed a little splash of coral this spring. I have a few vases and candlesticks that are my chameleons through the seasons and they were to be my victims once again.

 {source}

I went to Lowe's and picked up Valspar's Coral Premium Flat Spray Paint and I was pleasantly surprised to see it marked down to $3.98 from $4.98. That's right. A whole dollar off. It was my lucky day! 

I know technically you are suppose to give the items that you are spray painting, light even coats to not get any drips, but that takes too long. Plus with the flat type it doesn't show drips as easily as the glossy type does. 

So I gave the the candlestick and vase two quick coats of spray paint before our walk. When we came back, everything was dry, ready for the bookshelf! 

(The colour is a little off from the picture to what it looks like in real life. It looks too bright here.) 

I love the splash of colour that the coral brings to my usual whites, browns, and blues.

 I'm ending my day happy with my little accents of coral. Now that I have almost a full can left, I'm looking around my house what else I can spray paint. It's an addiction I tell ya. An addiction.