Decorating a Bookshelf

Most of our boxes are unpacked and since I created a gallery with all the frames that were piling up, I thought it was about time to do something with all the books that were piling up...

We have a built-in bookcase next to the fireplace in our living room... here's what the bookshelf and fireplace area looked like when we purchased the house...

These built-ins are great... so much character, a perfect storage area, plus the open shelving really allows for a showcase of our personal style and interests.  With that said, it was time to load up the shelf with all those books and a few odds and ends.

I say progress because I still have a few things left to finish on the bookshelf (more info coming soon) and the fireplace is by no means finished.... work is needed (I should say wanted).

While I was decorating the shelf, there was a lot of moving things around, adding new objects, removing pieces, tweaking here, adjusting there, and finally... after hopping on and off the shelf (about a gazillion times), asking the husband (who always says "it looks fine"), I finally said... "it's done!!!!".

Here's a few more detailed photos...

If you look closely at our shelf, it's a mix between the husband and myself.  There are a lot of memories interspersed between all those books and magazines pertaining to our interests... decorating, crafts, family, finance, investing, Jesus, houses, health, beaches, chess, history, etc.  That shelf is us, in a nutshell.

And here's one more before and after view of the living room bookshelf....

If you're interested in the paint job that was done before the bookshelf arrangement, you can read about it here and here.

Linking up to the Decor Chick, Funky Junk Interiors and House of Hepworths.