Bookshelf: The Grand Finale

The end!  The end.  Oh I am so happy to post this post.

My bookshelf project is finally done.  I've made great progress from the beginning.  But first, here is my to do list -- 

• buying doors for the bottom part of the shelves
• adding hardware to those doors to match hardware on desk
• painting the backs of the open shelves so the contents really pop
• accessorizing the shelves and
• adding crown molding to the top of the shelves to make them a little more finished.

All that was left was accessorizing.  Let's take a walk down memory lane first.  The corner that needed some oopmh is back there near the secretary desk.  See how bare? 

I bought the tall skinny shelves around New Years Day and put them in place. My goal was to add storage and bring in something to take up the expanse of wall space in the dining room.

I added some crown molding to the tops of the shelves.  I wanted the shelves to look more polished and custom, and I wanted them to mimic the crown molding on the other furniture in the space, all of which has crown molding at the top.

Then I bought doors for the bottom halves of the shelves.  I needed functional storage for art supplies and my shredder and cords, so the doors were necessary to hide that stuff.  

Next, I settled on a color, Sherwin Williams Begonia, for the backs of the shelves.  I brushed on a few coats of paint to make the contents of the shelf really pop.

And now, all that was left was decorate.  I grabbed my decor bin and set everything on the dining room table.   I wanted options.  I had options.

After playing around with a bunch of things, here is what I ended up with!

On the left, I stacked books with faux coral on one shelf, my grandfather's tie-tacks on the middle shelf, more books (oriented a different way) and an old white pitcher on the top.

On the right, I put my fun textured vase on the bottom, a framed picture with starfish and clear vase on the middle shelf, and half of my entire collection of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Gibbon on the top.

I'm pleased to report the only thing I bought to add to the shelves was this little $9 vase from Crate and Barrel.  I loved it.

Oh I'm so happy.  What a difference this makes in my space!  And a huge project off my list.  I'm pleased with how it turned out.  I think bookshelves like these can end up looking super cluttered and visually cacophonous ... but I hope my carefully edited collection of meaningful things that I love looks clean and pretty and special.  Ok one more time:

Up next: work on the kids' rooms and work on getting more pictures and art on the walls.  I have a bunch of frames ready to go for my living room, and I just need to hang them and get pictures in them.  And then I want to create a gallery wall in my stairwell.  Oh ... yes.  Excitement. 

See you swoon,