Finishing those bookcases was a sigh of relief. Don’t get me wrong, I love building things but the process can kind of tear up your house. Well, really just my garage. I was excited to get these babies in their new home.
The first thing we had to do was take the baseboard off so that the bookcases could rest flush against the wall. We found a few holes (more like an indention) in the wall that the baseboard was hiding but I knew that the decor would hide it so I didn’t fix it. I even carefully took the baseboard off and stored it in the attic so if we moved, we could patch it up and replace it easily.
I knew that there was no intention of putting anything heavy on the left bookcase so there was no need to secure it to the wall. The right side would hold our 37-inch television. This had to be secure. (p.s.. if I could rewind my life and purchase a 27-32 inch tv I would. We love watching movies but we don’t need a t.v. this big. It kind of overwhelms the space. Oh well, no need to lose money to fix it) Anyway, this bookcase could not be wobbly so the Hubs secured it on a stud with an L-Bracket. You can see it in the pic below but I knew that you would not be able when it was decorated.
The tv is 9 inches deep when its sits on its stand. If we were to mount it, the tv would be 5 inches deep. We thought about it, but once we set it on top of the bookcase we were convince it was sturdy. It has two inches of space to play with and it doesn’t move when I do Insanity right in front of it. It even passed the dog stampede test. Its sturdy.
I worked with the wires to make it simple and clean. I will post how I did this soon. I know you can see some wires but you won’t when it’s decorated. I had a strategy! The next step was to scrounge around the house and find items that are in boxes, shoved in a bookcase or closet that needs a new home. Here is what I came up with:
Here is the list:
- Design books that I got for Christmas plus a few I had on my coffee table.
- Children’s books. I collect them. I pulled a few from the bookcases in my guest bedroom. You can’t even tell there are any missing because I had forced a few in. All of my friends have kids so I figured I would have a few on hand, ready for them to pull out and read at my house.
- A lamp I swapped out with my friend when I decorated her sons room.
- Really ugly angel box that I got in college when I was a Pi Phi. It wasn’t ugly to me then, but 12 years later its a little outdated, so I covered it with some scrap fabric from a project I haven’t told you about yet.
- a clear serving bowl that has been hidden for too long in my kitchen cabinets. ( I used it for Christmas Card display at Christmas)
- an old silver box that I want to turn into game storage
- Magazines that I just can’t part with. This is the only item I hoard in my life. I am simple and hang onto nothing. Magazines I keep. Weird, I know.
- baskets that were already in my living room.
- a few lanterns and white vases from the wedding I decorated.
Now I will let the pictures do the talking. I will say it wasn’t that simple. I moved it around a lot but this is what I settled with
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Just for fun, here is the full progression:
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I try my hardest to use what I have when I can, but for sure it has to be functional. This time around it worked really well and I love the overall look. I am working on some art to go above the bookcase without the t.v. I have gotten some questions about the shelves above the bookcase. It is my mishap that averted misfortune. I can’t wait to tell you about them.
Thanks for reading,
Jennifer
