Mobile Home Makeover: Built In Bookshelf Edition

Hello and happy Wednesday! I am so excited to be sharing the project the hubby and I have been working on for the past week or so. I have long been wanting (and needing) a large bookcase to house all my books.

I love to read and I love to collect books. I saw a bookcase similar to the one we built on The Thrifty Decor Chick's blog a while back and knew I had to have one similar to it. So....let me show you mine.

Drum roll please.......

We built this on one of our dining room walls. Originally I have planned to use one end of my dining room sectioned off for a library, but after we removed everything from the room and opened it up, I decided to include the library in the dining room. I googled library dining rooms and found some gorgeous inspiration pictures, so I knew I wasn't the only one to decide to combine these two rooms. 

My unit is a little over 8 feet tall and 9 feet wide. I may someday give a tutorial on how we built it, but for now I will just say that we started with three upper kitchen cabinets to use as the base and built up from there. We installed lighting in the top which is so pretty when turned on. 

I have three 36" sections. The first and third sections have approximately 12" shelves, and the middle section has two 12" sections and two taller...around 19" sections to house bigger things. 

I am truly in love with this piece. I literally had tears in my eyes thanking my hubby for making my dream come true. He worked so hard on this project. He has worked hard on everything we have done so far. He works outdoors in the Florida heat and humidity every day and then comes home and puts in another 4-5 hours each evening in the house. I am so blessed!

Some day I will take some close ups and share the items on the shelves. They are full of memories and a few things just for fun. I love style and design, but I am a sucker for sentimental things and I hope my home reflects my love for both when I am finished. I think so far it does. 

I love the handles I ordered from Overstock. I have ordered many things from them over the past few weeks and am very satisfied with the deals and service I have gotten. These handles are so pretty...they remind me of fancy old silverware. Best thing is they came in a set of 10, so I have four left to do something fun with!

I also love the lighting we chose. All the hardware and curtain rods, door knobs,  lighting, etc, are nickel finish. I got a great deal on these at Lowe's. The folks at Lowe's should know us by first name...lol!

My camera doesn't take the best pictures, but here it is one turned on.

Another feature of my bookcase that I love is the cabinets at the bottom. They are a blessing! I had very little storage before, but now, I have room for all my junk dishes, glasses,  and serving pieces.

I have caught myself just standing and staring at my new bookcase more than once. It just makes me smile knowing the love with which it was built and that it is filled with so many memories. It is perfection to me...from the aqua blue wall, to the white painted shelves, the dark walnut stained shelf on top of the cabinets and the trim on front to frame it out,  the cabinets, the hardware,  & the lighting. Perfection! 

And....I can just see it at Christmas....:)

So, what do you think of my new built in bookcase? 

I hope you are having a lovely week my friends. I'll be back to share more soon. We are getting things done, but I won't do full room reveals until we finish the trim and that is very time consuming. It is all coming together though, so keep checking in!

I'm partying at the following blogs.....

French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday

Redoux Interiors for The Handmade Hangout

Kathe for You're Gonna Love It Tuesday

Marty for Inspire Me Tuesday

Until next time.....

Vignettes Around the House

Hello and Happy Sunday everyone! I can't believe this is my last day of spring break....this week really flew by! I am so happy to have been able to check off everything on my To Do list this week though...and it was a pretty long list! Not only did I accomplish everything on my list, but I also completed a few projects which I will share soon and I had a lot of fun too. I am blessed and feel refreshed and ready to go back to work and see my kinders. 

I tweaked every surface in my home and tried to springify the decor. I am sharing a few with you today. Here's the top of my china cabinet. I added the crate and ivy basket and rearranged my pitchers. I love how it turned out...:)

The living room side tables all got tweaked as well. I switched out the darker colored decorative books for ones with green and blue spines.  

I added more aqua blue to the palette and kept the silvers and golds.

Love the sweet little bird cage.

And I love my new coaster I got a the thrift store for $0.47. I think it is actually a candle base but it will be serving as a coaster for me. It is really pretty and heavy metal.

I also found this white ceramic candle base (seen on the left) for $0.53. I like to use these for not only candles, but risers for various objects. I didn't have a white one so I had to have this one at that price.

I like this vignette....reminds me of an old classroom. Love all my old dictionaries. The globe is perched on a rusty old scale. It was a freebie but it had no stand. I found one for it today and will be working on that this week. The old globe on the stand I bought has some damage, but I have plans for it as well. I love my Galileo thermometer on the left and the armillary too. This is in my library area. We are hoping to build floor to ceiling shelves and cabinetry in this area this year. Can't wait! 

My old Lane hope chest moved to my bedroom and is holding a few items that are near and dear to my heart...:) How do you like my little disco ball there on the left...:) I have a disco ball on top of a vintage Lane chest covered in burlap.... just call me eclectic! LOL...:)

I have never shared pictures of my French Provincial dresser before. I bought this about 3 or 4 years ago with matching nightstands. It is by United and very well made. I fell in love with it the instant I spotted it at the thrift store and just had to have it. I plan to eventually move it to the dining room to use as a buffet. It is much better quality than the one I am using in there now and it is larger so it will hold more of my dishes and linens. It will be getting a makeover before it becomes the buffet, but that won't be anytime soon.

These dressers are quite costly and go for $300 to $1,300 online. 

Check this one out...

This one is on Etsy for $1,250! I gave $175 for the dresser, mirror, and two nightstands. Quite a steal compared to what they sell for online!

Source

 I love the silver leaf on this one....gorgeous! It's not for sale...a very talented blogger redid this one for her glamorous bedroom!

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I am thinking something along these lines for mine.....love it!

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Which one do you like best? You can see lots more examples here...if you're interested. 

I love French Provincial!

So...that's all I am sharing for today. I hope you have a lovely Sunday. 

Until next time.....

Organizing My Drawers!

Hello and Happy Friday! 

Today I am sharing a little organization post with you. I started this project Wednesday evening and finished last night. I was gone most of the day yesterday or would have finished sooner. And...as usual, I forgot to take a before photo of my buffet drawers, but the first photo below shows a lot of the stuff that came out of the drawers piled on my table\. I had just been cramming things in them and they were stuffed to overflowing. I had also been using one of my yard sale finds to store the overflow, but both of them needed to be cleaned out and organized. The second photo shows the yard sale cabinet.

I took everything out and switched some things around and had enough room to store the set of white china I bought a few months ago as well.  Here are the after photos.  First up are the left side drawers in the buffet. The top drawer holds tablecloths and runners. The middle one holds ice cream dishes, and the bottom drawer holds different types of trays.

The middle set of drawers hold place mats, serving pieces, and large glass platters.

The right side drawers hold napkins and rings, vases, and miscellaneous decorative pieces.

Much more organized! I do plan to either replace the buffet with a different one some day or paint this one. I have put off painting my larger furniture pieces until I am able to renovate the floors and walls in each room. Right now my walls are a really ugly creamy colored wallpaper covered sheet rock....typical of older mobile homes. I haven't painted because I want to gut each room and replace the walls with bead board and new sheet rock in some areas, as well as some board and batten. I also want my walls to be painted white to look fresh and clean and make a nice backdrop for my wood furniture which I plan to paint. We will also be replacing all the old carpet with new laminate. I can't wait, but I am trying to be patient until we can get to it and making the best of what I have to work with...:) I know God wants me to be content with what I have and He will bless me with what I want in His timing...:)

Here is the inside of the yard sale cabinet. It holds a lot! The top shelf holds candle holders, the middle shelf holds some plates and bowls along with some more candle holders and silk flowers. The bottom holds my set of white china as well as a set of fall & spring dinner plates. I want to put a fresh coat of  white paint on this little cabinet eventually. I also want to put bead board on the back and paint it a pretty color...maybe aqua, yellow, or green.

After I finished this project, I decided to work on tweaking all my junk...I mean treasures in my little library area. It is quite cluttered now, but again, I have big plans for this small space. Eventually the wall that holds big bookshelf  will be covered in built-in bookshelves from floor to ceiling. I can't wait! I'm so tired of all the brown! I am ready for light and bright! Anywho, you can see what this space looked like before I tweaked it here. I had to move the chairs a while back because my son kept kicking his toes on them when he walked to his room. Here is what it looks like now.....

You can read how I recovered the chairs and ottoman here and here.

Here is the $5 yard sale cabinet I mentioned earlier in this post! It was a great investment! I love how the vignette on top turned out as well.

 

I love the colors of these old books. I also love my pewter horse head bookend I bought a a flea market a while back. I'm still debating on painting him. I think I will one day! Next to the horse head is an old ink bottle and my husband's late grandfather's pocket watch hangs in the cloche in front. A pretty teacup and saucer and vintage silver trinket box finish off the space.

On each side are two large apothecary jars I have had for about 25 years. They were given to me by an old friend of my hubby's family and she had them for years before that. I love the size and they are very heavy glass. Look at the pretty detailing on the lid. This one holds loose change. When it is filled, we will roll it and cash it in. Maybe use it for a small home project. A tile quote and a small, old insulator round this side off. Love the color of the insulator!

The left side jar holds my son's old marble collection. He had some really pretty ones that I couldn't bear to part with. I'll have grands to play with them some day! Also on this side are several old bottles that my Granny Pauline dug up herself. She loved to dig for treasures and had a huge collection of old bottles and arrowheads. You can see several of the old bottles here. The tall aqua colored one with the stopper is a favorite as well as the white one!

I am so looking forward to a Girl's Night Out with my besties tonight! We are doing a little shopping, going to eat at Outback, and then going to see The Heat. Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy are my two favorite actresses and I am sure together they are a hoot! Looking forward to shopping, eating, chatting, and laughing with this awesome group of ladies...:) 

Well, I better get up and get busy! I have more projects on my Summer To Do list! 

Oh....just in case you didn't see it, please go read this post if you might be interested in guest blogging for me! I would appreciate it greatly...:) Thanks to the ladies who have already contacted me...I am so grateful!

Y'all have a wonderful Friday!

Until next time.....

A Ladder in the Library!

I don't know about you, but I am tired to the bone this evening! Today was my first day back at work after 10 days off for spring break. It's always hard getting back into the swing of things after time off, but I did it! I even managed to make a run to my favorite consignment store after work and then came home and walked 2 miles with mama. Now, I'm trying to convince myself to get up and wash the dishes...ugh! When I redo my kitchen one day it will have a dishwasher! Anywho, I wanted to share a little space I've been working on. Now, I still have major plans for this room (along with almost every other room in my home) but I figured I might as well go ahead and use some of the pretty decor I have been buying recently and spruce it up a bit. 

This area is at the end of my dining room. I have designated this space my library. I am a book lover and wanted an official library to keep them in. Now....this space isn't official yet since all my books aren't in here yet, but it's a start. Here's an overview of the space.....it's pretty small!

The shelf on the left was built by my daddy and works nicely to hold lots of books until I get my floor to ceiling shelves built in! 

This is taken from he window end. Excuse my son;s camo gun case in the background...lol! He's been turkey hunting! Notice my recently recovered chairs? I found an adorable little foot stool today at the consignment store to use with one of the chairs! I'll share it soon...:)

Notice the ladder I bought last week? I haven;t painted it yet, but I am using it as is for now. I have lots of treasures on it...:)

The very top holds an armillary (from the yard) and a grapevine wreath leans on it as well. I forgot to take a picture of the paint bucket shelf, but the wreath sits on it as well as a decanter. A couple of vintage tablecloths hang from the bars on the other side as well.

The top rung holds a coupe of aqua blue vintage books, my hubby's grandpa's old pocket watch encased in a thrifty cloche, and a sweet little dish from my china cabinet.

The next rung holds a crocheted doily (made by hubby's late grandma), a pretty candlestick and a pretty vintage, hand painted dish (see the pretty inside in photo above). The next one down holds several vintage books, an orphan lid that belonged to my granny, a sweet little bird, and a vintage ink bottle with an ink well that belonged to the same granny as the lid.

The bottom rung holds a mercury glass candle holder and several old bottles that also belonged to my granny.

I put this metal rack to use that I thrifted a few weeks ago!

                                   

The little white cabinet was moved in here until I repurpose it. I have big plans for this little $5 cabinet! On top sits my son;s old marble collection, a picture of my sister and I as little girls, a miniature ice cream table and chairs, a vintage looking tricycle, & a little red wagon with an antique teddy bear and a little pillow my daughter sewed in kindergarten...:)

This is hard to see, but the cover on this old dictionary is so cool. I bought it for $0.50 at a yard sale a year or so ago. I bought it to use the pages for crafts, but when I took the book jacket off and discovered the alphabet pressed in the cloth cover, I quickly decided against it. It is really pretty, but hard to see in the picture! 

My hope chest got a makeover a while back with a new burlap cover! It sits against the back of my china cabinet. I am thinking of covering the back with old book pages or sheet music. What do you think?

A beautiful silver tray and pretty platter lean against the back. In front sits a beautiful frosted glass candy dish that again, belonged to my granny. It has a bee design on it.....love! A little green birdie,  a hand painted dish, and a vintage seam roller complete this vignette.

To the right sits the vintage rose print I bought over the weekend and my old bronzed baby booties!

To the left sits an altered book with a poem about sisters &  a pretty teacup and saucer...:)

My $4 consignment store mirror completes the look! The cord hanging there belongs to the china cabinet...it lights up!

Well,  I hope you enjoyed the tour...:) Like I said, I have lots of plans to improve the space, but for now, it is what it is, so I am making the best of it! 

Have a beautiful day tomorrow!

I'm linking up with:

Kathe

&

Marty

Until next time.....