Styling a bookcase

Happy Monday!  I am not sure how it is Monday already!  The past week has been so busy and just flew by without me realizing it.

Today I am going to update you on my bookcase.

Does anyone else have a bookcase with no books?  Sounds silly but I know I am not the only one.  I love to read but I have had a Kindle for 5 years now so "real" books do not happen at our house.  We have our wedding album and a few other photo albums from trips but that is it for anything in book form.  So when I found my really cool bookcase I knew it would not be displaying books.  I wanted it to display things that are special to us and represents our lifestyle.

There are tons of tutorials and tips on how to style a bookcase.  These suggestions apply for displaying books and non books.  Here are my favorites:


Style Studio by Ballard Design

SAS Interiors

Bliss at Home


I mentioned my bookcase before in this post and if you follow me on Facebook you got a sneak peek, but I have had a week or so to work on it and it has started to look really good....or at least I think so.  :)  Here are some before pictures.

Here are the "as of right now" shots.  There are still several things I want to do or change but this is how it looks today.

The sailboat was my paternal grandfather's.  He loved model trains and boats.

The propeller was an extra we had in the shop.  

The bonefish we bought at an art show in New Orleans.

The shrimp boat picture still needs a frame.  It was purchased by my maternal grandfather years ago.  It is a photo of where his father kept his boat.  You can see the Sabine Pass Lighthouse in the background.  Here is a close up.

The "Wind", "Water", "Waves" plaques were given to us by my parents when we got married.

The crochet "LITTLE" frame is from my husband's family.  His grandmother crocheted one for each boy after they were born.  Even though his grandparents passed a long time before we got married, his mother saved it for him.  She had it framed and gave it to us at our shower.

The photo is my of my maternal grandfather's father.  He is in Sabine Pass with his catch of the day....3 huge tarpon.  It too still needs a frame but here is a close up.

The bottom shelf of the bookcase has a framed verse of "Amazing Grace" from Blittle's parents and a wood angel.
We have 2 of these angels.  Blittle made them with his grandmother when he was little from scrap wood and metal.  The other one is in our bedroom.

I know I haven't showed much of our room but I am planning on posting about it this week.  Here is a little sneak peek!

I hope everyone has a great week and I promise to post again later in the week!






Sharing at:

The Dedicated House

Dressers and a Bookcase

I know, I know.  I haven't posted all week.  Its funny how things can instantly change.  I went from DIY/blogger mode to refinish for client mode overnight.

It all started last Thursday, when I went to North Houston to see my best girlfriend.  She had her 4th child a few weeks ago so I went to see the baby again (and her) and to take some pictures of the baby.  Baby Taryn is so cute and I loved getting sweet snuggles from her.  Here are a few of my favorite pictures.

Isn't she precious?!  All of their kids are super cute and I am absolutely in love with them.

After a day off from furniture on Thursday, Friday to Sunday was crazy busy.  We went to my hometown for my grandmother's 80th birthday party on Sunday but we also scored football tickets to the best high school football game of the year for Friday night.   On Saturday, I had 3 client appointments and I picked up a piece for myself.  Needless to say, it was a busy weekend packed with driving, working, and visiting with family.  Absolutely no down time to relax which resulted in me being exhausted on Monday.  This week has been consumed with furniture projects and a few secret projects that I am not ready to tell you about.  Here are some pictures of what I have been up to this week.

Before pictures of a client dresser.

This dresser will be in the master bedroom.  The client sent me an inspiration picture for her bedroom makeover and has given me the freedom to paint it how I want.  I love these kind of projects.  Surprising my clients is the best but there is a little stress and nerves I get hoping they will like it.  It is turning out great and I can't wait to show y'all the final product.

My bookcase

I bought this really neat bookcase from my friend's grandma.  She was downsizing and having an amazing estate sale.  I got early access and fell in love with this unique bookcase.  It is over 6 feet tall!  I debated painting it since it isn't in horrible shape and is solid wood.  Ultimately, I did decide to paint because I don't want anymore wood tones or brown in my living room and now I am having a little bit of painter's remorse.  I love it painted but I feel guilty about it since I know I could have refinished the wood.  Today, I am going to get it placed and accessorized.  After photos will be posted tomorrow.

Here are the before shots.

The only other piece I am going to tell you about is the office dresser.  Somehow I didn't get before pictures of it but it is part of the set that matches the dog feeding center.  (Read about that here.)  Remember, it was big and brown and ugly?

This dresser was the same just shorter and longer.  Now it is in my office being used for storage for anything from fabric, to office supplies, to my Silhouette machine.

I haven't talked about my office much mostly because I haven't had time to work on it.  It has been used for storage since we moved in and has just now started coming together.  Blittle decided to put all his fly fishing supplies downstairs so the office space is now totally mine.  It is the one room I am going more beachy than coastal. I want bright, happy blues and as many of my beach pictures as I can handle.  I will do a detailed post on the office later but for now here is my dresser.

These two felt the camera was out for them.  Silly.

I hope everyone else is having a great week and is enjoying this fall weather.  It is beautiful here!  I promise to have some more pictures and details over the next few days.  And soon I can tell you about a few of my secret projects.

A Few Updates

So, some how its been over 3 weeks since my last post.  Time flies when you are super busy!  Things have been crazy around here lately.  So crazy I really haven't bothered to take many before pictures or good quality afters.  Here is a quick overview of what I have been up to over the past few weeks.

 One client brought by this family piece and a bench that was made from an old bed.

Before

Before

After

After

I bought this dresser a while back and finally had time to work on it.

Before

After

After

After

Remember this dresser?

It was purchased for a baby girl nursery.  The client already had a creamy, distressed, glazed mirror and wanted her other nursery furniture refinished to match.  She had purchased a bookcase on Craigslist and ordered a Jenny Lind baby bed in white.  Now they both match the mirror and coordinate with the dresser.  It is going to be a super cute nursery!

Here is a desk that I refinished for a friend.  It is a family piece they wanted painted to match the beds in their girls' room.

Before

Before

Before

After

After

After

After

And another little project.  I have been working on changing this beautiful dresser into an entertainment center.  It already had a drawer front cut off by the previous owner.  She had started the project and couldn't finish so she contacted me to see if I could do something with it.  Since one drawer front was cut off, I couldn't use it as a dresser so I figured I'd stick with the entertainment center idea.  The dresser is solid wood (SUPER HEAVY) and has gorgeous lines.  I love it.  They do not make pieces like this anymore. I will post after pictures in the next few days.

I have been busy with several other things but they are not ready for posting.  Did I mention how busy the past few weeks have been?  On top of all of this, we went home to Texas this past weekend to watch my brother's girlfriend graduate with her Master's degree.  What an accomplishment!  So proud and excited for her. 

I will have the entertainment center finished in the next few days and will post a picture of it as soon as possible.   I hope everyone has a wonderful week and safe Memorial day weekend!