Once the bookcases left HomelyTown behind, it was time to put stuff back in them! I think that’s the main reason they had previously gone to hell in a handbasket downhill, because I know what’s involved in getting them styled. Over the course of a week, I slowly started putting things on the shelves. It went like this:
But the path I wore in the rug was worth it, as I’m head over heels with these shelves! Just to remind you of the negative impact the shelves previously had on the room, here’s a Before & After, or an After & Before in this case.
And before you decide I’ve got too much stuff, look at what I started with! Once I took everything out, I realized at least half of it I no longer liked, or it belonged somewhere else in the house. So Goodwill received several large bags, courtesy of this bookcase makeover!
I thought the pink and white combination of the shelves and fabric was a tad sweet. How to solve that? Add black, of course! So I hung the black-framed botanicals to tone it down. (Stole my own trick from giving Babygirl’s Room more sophistication!) I love the look of a mirror hanging on the front of shelves, but my house is bordering on vain with the number of mirrors, so I stuck with prints. These are held snugly in place with Command strips, baby!
Let’s take a close-up tour, shall we? No judgement from you literary snobs!
Every single item I already had, but I did alter a few things to make them better suited for the room. These bottles got a paint treatment, which I’ll show you a tutorial on soon.
I used a mix of natural elements, books and accessories, and tried to balance height and visual weight on each shelf, as well as, all the shelves as a whole. Some books are turned around for interest, but also to hide my shameful vampiric addiction.
I made this glass box, and am crazy about the reflection and bit of glam it brings.
We received a pair of Tiffany glass votives as a wedding gift, but they’ve always gotten lost in our decor. Now, with a simple (faux) flower bud perched inside, it’s one of my favorite things on the shelves!
Remember the cut-out Mr. Sugarplum made for the air-intake vent? I just covered it with the fabric. It may require some special attention over time as the fabric will probably act as an air filter. Ick. I also brought in the hurricanes I typically use for seasonal decor (here and here). They are filled with black sand we brought back from our Santorini trip, and a black candle. The wooden bowl is a travel memento from Belize.
Here’s a tip for you, did you know you can run your coral through the dishwasher? Yep! Cleans off all the dust and returns it to it’s bright white. The Hawaiian print is a set I inherited from my grandparents, I just altered the frame a bit so the art became the focus. (Guess I have a few tutorial posts to get to!)
Our family room is covered with wall-to-wall photos (literally), so it was overkill to have them here too. Only our very favorites stayed.
I stuck planted a succulent in the other Tiffany votive. How cute is it?! He’s so cute he needs a name!
And finally, some people probably don’t display their Travel books, but since traveling is such a passion of ours, they get to stay. You can read details of my wedding dress here.
I still can’t get over the difference a quart of paint made for these bookcases! And in case you’re wondering, the botanical prints don’t protrude or cause a hindrance when walking by.
Here’s a wide-angle view for better room reference. You get a peek of my Son’s Room and Guest Bathroom on the right (Babygirl’s Room is also in that ‘wing’, to the left of the bathroom), and the Master Bedroom is through the door on the left. And on the right, out of the picture, is the Entrance Hall and Dining Room.
Oh my goodness what a difference! It looks incredible! Nice job! 🙂
Hi Cassie!
Your book shelves look amazing – I really love how you perked them up!!
xoxo Laura
They look awesome! Love how you hung those botanical prints. Did you add molding/trim to the top?
looks great!! clean and fresh! love it!!
They look so, so pretty! Love how it all ties together with the rug now.
This is a HUGE transformation! Love how clean and fresh it all looks. Colors are perfect. Kudos!
Heidi @ Show Some Decor
Looks great! Draws attention in a good way – functional, colorful and interesting!
I feel you COMPLETELY! I redesigned my bookcases 2 months ago and I'm still doing the back and forth. In fact, I changed them up again last night! I'm constantly seeing a spot that needs a little "adjusting." There's such a fine line between cluttered, boring and PERFECT! I think yours are right on the money!
Like night and day!! It looks amazing! Where did you snag your pretty botanicals?
it is amazing how much lighter and brighter the entire room feels with those changes… looks wonderful, cassie!
Amazing transformation and I love how you styled the shelves…that is not easy to do!
oh, they look GREAT! and you did a fab job styling them too =) me want some coral. xoxo shel
They look fantastic. I love the fabric on the back.
Clapping… clapping… clapping… cupping hands to mouth screaming "woooooooohhh Casssieeeee"…. Seriously- great job, girl! It looks incredible. Quite the dramatic (yet inexpensive!) makeover!!! Love the prints on the front. I mean love 🙂
Cassie! They look amazing! Completely changes your room. Well done, friend!
Great transformation! I love the fabric on the back and love the wide angle shot!! 🙂
LOVE THEM!! I have bookcases that are similar how did u do it >:?
What a big difference, love it ! How about "Seymour" for your plant's name ?
Very cute change! I love what it does to the entire room!
Another grand slam, Cass, and I am loving SOOOOO many of the details, I can't even hone in on just one! I love them all! I think I'm actually most impressed by the editing…I *really* need to learn how to do that! (c: It turned out absolutely fabulous and the prints on the front are completely genius…
Cassie, they look fabulous!!! I love how you styled them!!
Just wanted to tell you that this has been so helpful for me to look at. Not even the bookshelf so much- though it looks fabulous. More the fact that you have doorways and odd walls behind your sofa. I do too. Mine floats in a room with two ugly doors behind it. You are inspiring me to do something about that background. So thanks, Cassie!
PS- you crack me up too.
Looks AWESOME!!! I would have never thought to put the dark prints over the shelves…so clever Cassie! Love how you re-purposed the Tiffany votives…the succulent is my favorite. So eclectic and fun. You really knocked this one out of the park!
It truly pulls that corner of the room together…great job in using color and pattern!!!!!
Looks amazing! Love the transformation!!!
WOW!!!! Those are magazine worthy!! Seriously Cassie, AMAZING!!!!
Looks great, Cassie. I love how they work so well with the rug now. Huge difference. All of your editing paid off!
LOVE it!! The shelves look great! I love the touches of personality in them! Great job!
Hey Cassie –
I think thy look 1,752 times better, therefore all your work paid off! Seriously, they look great.
It does look so good! You must be so pleased, so much more modern and that white vase now really pops against the white!!
Rachie xo
They look awesome Cassie! Great job.
Looks Great!! My absolutely favorite is the wooden bird peeking over the edge! Do you mind if I ask where you got him?
Your styling is great, your room looks beautiful – I am v envious! I especially like the shelve with the tiffany votives and the art work behind, so pretty.xx
Magazine! I think this might be my favorite thing in your house.
Cassie! These are seriously amazing, you did a wonderful job. Just the right amount of pink–and good styling, too!
Marissa
http://www.roost-home.blogspot.com
They look so great! and it makes a huge difference in your room! great job!:)
LOVE. Those botanical prints are to die for!
Oprah says your home should rise up to meet you, but I'd say *your* home should rise up to THANK you! There seems to be nothing white paint and a fabulous stylist (you) can't do.
abby
mmk so many things to love! fresh and modern update. the little succulent in a votive, brilliant!the square glass mirror planter, so pretty. all the back and forth about styling paid off, it's well balanced and easy on the eyes.
Remember the pool party I was going to send you? Turns out I JUST won tickets to BlogHer and will be in SD instead! ANYONE ELSE GOING??
CASSIE, i am loving it! you are inspiring me to de-clutter my shelves all over the house!!
They look amazing! Great job!
Wow! What a huge difference your little changes made. Looks really great. The only thing I would suggest is looking for modern art that you like for those two black frames. It would bring a real sophistication to the vignette. You could even find modern florals if you liked; I think it would really kick it up a notch. Just my two cents (worth about, oh, two cents!).
i…love…BOOKSHELVES!! it turned out great! i keep adding to my bookshelf and moving things around. (i mostly have to move things beacause of my 14 month old chicken)
anyhoo…looks great girl!
http://www.moddybee.blogspot.com
Great job girl, they look great!! I love those white and pink vases you did too! *heart*
it looks so clean and organized now! and i love how you snuck some pink in there!
Looks fantastic. I did the fabric backing as my Pinterest project too – I need to work some still on the styling (it is a pain, and who the heck knows what I have lurking around here that I could pull out and make work, just more mess than I want to get into right now). I've always loved the art hanging on the front of the shelves too.
I love the finished look! Very pretty 🙂
Fabulous, friend!! They are perfection! And it's too funny you mentioned your travel books — as you will soon see (once I can get my butt in gear and post pics of the office), I have displayed ours. I thought "Maybe I shouldn't display these, but too bad."
Such an awesome transformation. I really like how you mounted (twss!) the frames to the outside of the bookshelves too. Tres cool!
p.s. I need to join that Pinterest challenge- I've been sitting on my *ss way too much just pinning away lately, instead of actually Doing anything!
Woomp Woomp Boom there it is…where did you get the fabric?
Hi Cassie! I love it! It looks so gorgeous and is such a beautiful vignette to have in the room! Your blog is so very beautiful…you should be so proud of your lovely home and the inspiration that you give to your readers! Have a wonderful week! Angie xo
They look marvelous! Alright, I think I need to fly you to AZ so you can help me with my 427 sq ft apartment. I love your projects and what you do, truly I do. I think I need to take more time and plan what I want to do with "what" I currently have an the "inexpensive" ways I can DIY! I'm loving the finished look and now it's on to the next project 🙂 Let the fun continue! Oh, and "yes" Monday and August 1st came around way to fast.
it looks awesome! what a difference! Great results for all your effort.
Love how much it brightens up the space and it ties in so much more with the other changes you've made! Bravo!
love. love. love.
Cassie it looks great!!! Love the colors and organization!! Awesome job girl 🙂
It's so gorgeous Cassie! Love all the details, from the patterned back, to the framed botanicals. World of difference! 🙂
If you have the time, check out this shelves I did for a client.
LOVE LOVE LOVE!!! Looks so fantastic! The pink is perfection!
For sure my favorite thing you've done.. genius! Even just painting them white and restaging made a huge difference!
Those look great and you've styled them so well! I love how you hung the botanical prints on the fronts.
So much better! They blend in nicely into the wall colour and make your lovely collectables shine 🙂
love the changes. your bookshelf styling looks FABULOUS!
I'm in the middle of doing a similar bookshelf makeover in my daughter's room. I'm loving the fabric back – it really adds a WOW factor.
my bookshelf project should be done by tomorrow – fingers crossed!
have a great weekend.
cheryl xox.
Those look amazing!! You have totally inspired me!! Thanks!!
Cassie- I'm loving the bookshelves so much. Ah! The pink is so perfect. Such a difference to the room!
I have spent the last year trying to accessorize our bookshelves! Yours are definitely an inspiration!
Styling shelves definitely brings out my OCD side! Twice I've spent more than a couple hours styling for projects, but I love it!
really pretty! i am now a follower, hope you stop by sometime 🙂
Fabulous job! I struggle so much with shelves, so I know it's not easy. You managed to make it look that way though.
I REALLY like how that turned out! What a difference white paint and awesome fabric make! Yay!
Love them girl! I'm featuring them on my blog today!
The bookshelves look so great, from the paint, to the fabric, to the styling. I featured them on my blog this week:
http://www.imbusyprocrastinating.com/2011/10/get-me-motivated-monday.html
Wow this turned out quite well I think. I love the colors you chose for the shelf itself & I like the mixture of colors & textures you add to the shelves in such a way as to not clutter. Way to go!
LOVE THIS!! what a transformation! Great job! This is definitely on my list of things to DIY next : )
Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing…seriously great stuff! One of the most hilarious books I've read.
Love the end result, the shelves look awesome!