Shelf Design

Living Room Shelf Makeover {re-design}

This has been on my "to do list" for months now.

When winter ended I knew my shelves needed a punch of springtime color--but the addition of a high maintenance rugrat in our home put those plans on hold.

Last night, I was reading one of my favorite blogs--the Pleated Poppy.  And she lives in my dream home--all the custom finishes, furniture selection, paint color and wall decor--I am IN LOVE with all of her choices!

After reading the Lindsey's post about redesigning her shelves, I was inspired--and since I am living the self-titled "Summer of Organization" this year, I decided to bite the bullet and re-design the shelves while the hubby made ME dinner {yep, you read that right}. He's actually not half bad in the kitchen {so long as he's only making the three meals he knows how to cook}.

So here's how my night of redesigning went.

These are the BEFORE shelves: 

As much as I love the layout of these shelves, the dark brown colors really aren't my style.  I am more of a light and bright type of girl and I was ready for my living room to reflect that.

So I began with a clean slate:

The blue background was already there when we moved in--and it has kinda grown on me.  If I ever gain the energy to paint them {I despise painting}, I want to go with a chocolate brown background like I saw at the Pleated Poppy blog.

Once upon a time, there lived an adorable wedding picture in a beautiful frame with two lovely pillar candles in between these shelves.  Then, after much arm twisting and back rubs, the hubby got his way and installed this mondo TV with its hideous cords.  I promise it was much cuter before {but to be honest, it's pretty nice to be able to watch Glee on a TV bigger than a bread box}.

The first step I take when re-doing any decor, is to lay out all the items that inspire me. 

This doesn't mean I'll end up using every piece, just nice to have them available for switching things out. 

You can see I am leaning towards a 'brighter' look and feel.

Teal, Yellow, Orange and White.

This vintage type writer makes me smile.

Then, after two ours of mixing and matching and setting up and taking down, I finally settled on a design.  While I know I like this color pallet more than my previous darker design, the verdict is still out on whether I prefer this design--only time will tell.

 Ta-Dah! 

Tutorial for this chalk-board-label-basket on the way!

  This adorable picture star was made for Baby W by the lovely and talented Brittany over at Love Stitched.  On the right are bunches of  knobs in a vase {I am a knob-collecting freak}.

On the top shelf is the quote that inspired this post with this challenge. 

  

I picked up this clock at Home Goods for $12.99 {it's the only new item}

And there you have it.

Check that project off my list.

I will be linking up to these glorious blog parties--go check them out for fab ideas and inspiration.