Bookcase Style: Take 1

Nothing like styling an 8 foot tall bookcase to make you realize how few books you actually have!  Seriously, I grabbed books from my office cubies and hubby's office built-in and maybe had enough to fill a shelf.  Good thing that tag sale season is about to start- I need to go on a (cheap) book buying binge! As you might be able to see if you pay close attention, I painted the back of the shelves a very light gray to add a bit of contrast.

Styled Living Room Built-in

 

I'm fairly confident that this styling will be evolving greatly over the next few months as I acquire more books and the room grows around it, so consider this Style Take 1.  I'm also still hunting for the perfect baskets and/or bins to live on the bottom shelf.  I wish I had gotten these before they sold out.

Styled Living Room Built-in side

I'm practically bouncing out of my socks in anticipation for my newly reupholstered chair to come home this Wednesday after my last upholstery class.  At that point I'll be banishing Clifford the big red chair upstairs to hubby's office (YAY).  The reupholstered chair won't be 100% complete and I'll still have some homework to finish but GUYS, IT'S GOING TO MAKE THIS ROOM!  I'm not excited at all.  nope.  not me.

Styled Living Room Built-in Full

The other major change in the room will be a sofa.  I'm very very very impatiently trying to wait until we sell Frankie to order it, but Mitchell Gold is making it difficult and having a stellar sale.  I have, however, narrowed my fabric selections down to 2- velvet or microsuede??  I think the velvet would be top if I knew how it would work with the kitties.  Any crazy cat ladies with velvet sofas out there??

Back to the shelves!  In addition to an embarrassingly small collection of books, a little bit of everything made it on there from wedding pictures to IKEA art and quite a few thrift finds.

Styled shelves 1

Styled shelves 2

 

Styled shelves 3

Styled shelves 4

Now I have to revisit styling throughout the rest of my house since the majority of my small items have now found a home here.  Darn, more styling to do.

Styled Corner Built-in Bookcase

So what do you think?

 

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Meet Grover

I hope you enjoy these weekly updates as I learn to navigate through the business of flipping houses.  Check out  posts about our last flip HERE. Flip #3 has officially commenced!

We closed on Grover just over a month ago when I was still finishing up with Frankie, so he got put on hold until I was ready to dig in.

WARNING: lots of pics of a dingy house ahead!

grover-before1

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Lucky for me, the exterior doesn't need a TON of attention.... new lamp post, new mailbox, cleaning up, etc.  The inside requires much more attention.  I swear it gets worse the further in the house you get.

Just inside the front door, you find the very red living room with the worst laminate floor in history.

grover-before3

Why yes, that is door trim used as base board in half of the house.

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Bad paint jobs, dingy trim, foggy windows, and dated built-ins are the things flipping dreams are made of.

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Guess what wall I'm hoping to take down!  It is structural, so it'll take engineering and permits, but I think the results will be worth it for resale.

grover-before9

Yes, that is another fake wood laminate.  Not the worst kitchen by far, but oh so dated.  JUST WAIT until you see what I turn it into.  The possibilities make me giddy.

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But it just keeps getting better.  On the way to the bedrooms and bath, you hit this lovely hallway.  Which has multiple layers of wallpaper.

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And then comes the bathroom.

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The bedrooms don't need a total overhaul, just a bit of love.

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I swear my camera wasn't broken- the colors in this house play tricks on your eyes.

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And in the basement there's a very strange room that I'm not quite sure what to make of....

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And last but not least..... the neon seafoam garage...

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I certainly have my work ahead of me with this house!

Shelf Candy

Styling my new floor-to-ceiling bookcase is an ongoing project right now- that's a lot of surface to style apparently.  I'm shopping the house for books and accessories and no surface is safe!  Most likely I'll need to restyle every surface in the house once the bookcase is set, since I'll be stealing accessories from almost every vignette.  Sounds like a terrible problem and no fun at all to solve.  No fun at all. With a new bookcase with unlimited styling potential, I've also been noticing new books that I'd like to add to the shelf.

Design Book roundup

 

1// A Life Less Ordinary by Alex Legendre & Zoe Ellison

2// The Flower Recipe Book by Alethea Harampolis

3// Elements of Style by Erin Gates

4// Vintage Modern Style by Emily Chalmers

5// The Nesting Place by Myquillyn Smith

6// Design Sponge at Home by Grace Bonney

7// Paper to Petal by Rebecca Thuss & Patrick Farrell

 

I'd love to hear your design/decor book recommendations!