Library bookcases done. Boom!

Remember that one time, back in January, when I had that idea to transform our dining room into a library? And then, back in March, when we started the process of building bookcases for the new library?

Yeah, it was eight months ago, so I don’t blame you if you can’t remember. ;) Well, they are finally done!!!! And I’m thrilled!!

I have worked  my butt off over the past few days to get them done. Seriously, my butt should be a third of it’s size.

There was so much to do to finish up, I didn’t realize how long it would take. There was a TON of painting – I had done one coat of primer on the bottom cabinets before, but then I dropped a can of blue paint that splattered all over them (fun times) and I got a recommendation to use an oil-based primer instead anyway (more on that later). So, I reprimed the cabinets and taped off the baseboards and cabinet trim with my Frogtape:

I did one more coat of primer and two coats of semi gloss white paint.

I primed the cabinet doors and then sprayed them with the semi gloss two times:

The finish is impeccable! I’ll show you more of that process soon too!

I used a TON caulk. It was insane. I used this trick I saw on a DIY show. Or maybe it was a blog? Pinterest? Who knows anymore!:

And found an awesome tool that helped this process immensely that I’ll show you soon too!

I installed the crown molding in the room and caulked the top and bottom of that:

I originally picked out hardware that was a nickel finish, but I realized after I got the lights in that I wanted the hardware to match it, so I went back to Home Depot and picked these out:

I love their clean lines – they say “library” to me:

I installed some lattice wood on the side of the cabinets just to add a little detail:

And THEN I could really start decorating the shelves! I’ve had most of them (mostly) done for awhile now, it was those taller shelves on the bottom that were hard:

Sometimes accessorizing is the easiest thing and everything just falls into places nicely. Sometimes it takes FOREVER to get it right. These took for.ev.er:

I’ll share more detail on all of the accessories soon, but for now, let’s just enjoy the final result shall we?:

The dog likes it too. I swear I don’t stage him like that – our animals are just obsessed with being in each photo. I had just shooed the cats out of the shot. ;)

I know I say this a lot, but they turned out EXACTLY how they looked in my head. I really don’t think I could be happier:

I love how the shelf spacing turned out – we made the bottom one bigger because we had to deal with the light switch and thermostat. We have a ton of bigger books that I wanted to have room for on the bottom, but I ended up laying them all flat anyway. ;) At first I was a little nervous about the bigger bottom shelf but I really like how it came together.

By the way, we asked two heating and cooling guys about the thermostat – I thought we’d have to move it. They both said it’s fine as is, which was a nice surprise. I’m even more surprised that they don’t bother me much. I hardly notice them.

We have a column in the room that prevents a good straight shot of these, so here’s a couple that show more detail of the bookcases:

 

I didn’t want to lose much floor space in the room, so we used upper cabinets for the bases – they’re only 12 inches deep. It worked perfectly – I didn’t want the shelves to be any deeper than that:

The cabinets were just the unfinished kind you can find at most big box hardware stores. Even at 12 inches deep they hold a TON! I’ll show you that soon too! ;)

Obviously it took me waaaay longer than I thought it would to build these. I’ve never done something this large. Dad helped me a TON by coming by a day or two a month to help me create them -- but I otherwise it was (mostly) me. We had help on one part – adding the trim to the front of the shelves.

Now I can’t wait to get moving on the rest of the room! Most of it won’t be too bad – I’ve had a new light sitting in the garage for months (this one is too ornate for what I’m going for in here – it’s moving elsewhere). The drapes won’t be too hard (just have to find the perfect fabric!). I’ve already got a coffee table that will go in the middle of the room that will get a redo.

The chairs are going to be the biggie – finding four, super comfy, pretty, affordable chairs will be interesting. :) My plan is to put the coffee table and four chairs in the middle of the room for another comfy spot to sit:

We never ever, I mean, never used the dining room. Ever. I do think a dining room table would look lovely in front of the built ins, but I just don’t want to go back to a space that we don’t use. For now, the chairs are the plan!

Since I’m obsessed with before and afters, let’s take a look at the room earlier this year:

This was a result of my dark and dramatic phase. ;) I really did love this room, but when I painted it chocolate brown the floor was light carpet. The addition of the hardwoods made it feel like a cave.

I’m so thrilled to have a much brighter, useful room now!:

And for all that is good, I am SO GLAD this part is done!!! :)

Can I get a WHOOOOO??

Thanks so much for coming along on this ride with me – and thanks for your patience. I hope you love them and are inspired!

For more on this project, check out these links:

We started out with adding toe kicks to the cabinets and fitting them in place here.
I pulled down all the trim in the room, had the lights and outlets wired (we had help on that too) here.
I installed and primed the cabs, painted the walls (twice, ugh!) here.
I showed you how we built the bookcases (frame and shelves) here.
The trim was added and shelves beefed up here.
And finally, the library light drama was covered here.

Whew!! MAJOR props to my Dad for all the help, and my hubby and son for being patient with me for the past few days so I could get ‘er done!

Now I’m off to create a new Halloween costume for a cute little boy. The ninja now wants to be the Headless Horseman and I’m determined to make it happen. And then…I’m taking a nap. For a few days. ;)

Pottery Barn pillows (on the cheap!)

Well hello! Hope you are having a great week! There has been awesome progress on our outdoor project this week, and I’ll show you that very soon! It is SO exciting to watch an ongoing project that I don’t have to complete myself. It’s an odd feeling to not be doing the work…but pretty a cool one. :)

Anyhoo…so I may have mentioned a few times that I’m nutty for the Pottery Barn catalog. I’m pretty much counting the days till the fall version arrives. (There will be some gleeful squeals. Get ready.)

It’s totally free inspiration, as is a trip through the store. ;) The store version is more dangerous though…cause you may or may not find a couple $3 mercury votive holders you MUST. HAVE.

Or something.

Last week I took a trip though to see if they had fall stuff out check out the inspiration, and I ended up at the table linens area. I noticed a few things – first, they were on sale. SCORE. Secondly, they had so many fantastic napkins, in some fabulous colors and combos.

I put a few together to show how they could work together:

 

Why would you want to combine napkins in different colors in designs you ask?

To make them into pillows of course! I noticed a trend while there – many of their napkins are also versions of their pillows:

So my brain got to thinkin’. And you know that’s dangerous…for Pottery Barn anyway. ;)

I wanted some late summerish, (almost) fallish pillows in our living room, and wanted to break away from the standard reds and browns I’ve always used. I’ve been pulling in blues over the past year and was determined to make the blues work for fall(ish. It’s not fall yet. I know. Ish.).

I have a love/hate relationship with our sofa in that room – it’s OH so comfy, and actually a great, sturdy couch. It’s just the fabric…oh my dear, it drives me NUTS. And the color, it’s as gold as gold can be. I want to recover it but that’s an entirely different post. Altogether. A long one.

Anyhoo again. I decided to just work with the gold instead of fighting it, and PB had some beautiful yellow and blue combos that I loved! There was an awesome ikat pillow in the store that day:

(It was the one on the left but I love both!)

I’ve never been a big ikat girl, and I know it’s trendy, and I’m probably coming in at the end of the trend, and all the sudden I like it. Of course. I’m OK with that. I like what I like, when I like it. Don’t try to make sense of it, your head will hurt. ;)

So I grabbed a couple of napkins and made myself a pillow:

Boom.

Their (embroidered) pillow cover, $59. Mine, I think $8?

I had some fabric for another (upcoming) project, and thought it worked great with the blues in the PB linens. So I made another pillow. LOVE. (I got that blue fabric at Joann’s a couple months ago.)

I found a blue and yellow placemat at PB that day as well, and I knew just what to do with it. I opened the side seam and stuffed it:

Like I’ve shown you here. And a how-to here.

Two Pottery Barn pillows for less than $20 – gotta love it! And I could have made three if I used the ikat napkin on one side and a basic white fabric on the back.

Because I saved so much on those, I splurged on the big blue medallion pillow in the back. I have purchased PB pillow covers before and they hold up GREAT.

But like always, I used a pillow we had to fill it – but it was still a bit wimpy. I hate wimpy pillows. So I stuffed a bed pillow in there:

I do what it takes. :) It worked great!

And like always…my versions are not for the faint of heart up close. A little rough. So let’s stay far away:

:)

I’ve been trying to be more adventurous with mixing patterns and colors – the colors in the pillows are in the drapes and I love how they all tie together!

And I love that ikat so darn much I think I’m going to make another one to put on another chair in the room. :)

I have to show you another find for this room! I have wanted to replace our chunky Goodwill coffee table that has been in and out of there:

(Old pic from the red and black days.)

While on a trip to Garden Ridge last week, I found pretty much EXACTLY what I’ve been looking for:

It opens up the space SO much! I LOVE it.

It was $60, but I figure if I sell a couple Craigslist coffee tables (on Craigslist), I’ll make up for that easy. (I've got a couple.)  ;)

I have a few more changes planned for this room, but for now, I’m so happy with how it’s changed over the past year:

The pillows and coffee table have transformed it yet again…for $80. And yet again…I have ensured that Pottery Barn will never advertise on TDC. ;)

You can make pillows out of just about anything – linens, shower curtains, sheets, whatever! The possibilities are endless! Have you made any unconventional pillows? Link to them in the comments if so!