My Expedit Bookcase

I have wanted an expedit bookcase from IKEA for years! I kept holding off because I dread moving it every time we move. I was sick of my dining room having a big blank wall, so I just bought one!!! YAY!
I was even more excited to find out it now comes in high gloss white. I am glad I waited, because I really love the high gloss stuff that IKEA sells.
Watch my slide show to see my expedit come to life...

The bottom shelves will be full of photo albums and some pretty storage boxes. That's a project for another day! I am so excited to have something in my dining room finally! Our place is really starting to feel like a HOME.

My mom had kept all my plants for me when we moved out to Wyoming. We didn't have a safe way to take them with us and no extra space in our cars. I brought home a few with me after visiting, since I drove. My large Peace Lilly is so tall. It would not fit on top of any of my other bookcases without being smashed up against the ceiling. The expedit was a perfect place to house my plants.
I am so happy to have my greenhouse now! I wanted it as soon as I saw it on the IKEA website. We were going to buy seeds and try to grow herbs, but we just go to the store and stare at the selection. We bought jalapeno plants instead. Not sure what we will put in the middle pot yet. Hopefully I don't kill them.

I got some great cookbooks while in Ohio. One store I miss very much is Half Price Books. I paid less then $30 for all the cookbooks. If you ever get a chance to go to Half Price Books,...GO! The other great thing about the expedit bookcase is that I was able to pretty much fill it with all my last items that were homeless and stored in the closet. Somehow it all worked together I think! I still have a lot of Vinylmation Figurines that aren't displayed though. I hope to get a curio for the rest of my collection.
My dining area is a perfect place for my vintage pyrex, vintage glassware, teapots, Vinylmations and Alice in Wonderland stuff! I originally wanted a vintage buffet that I could paint bright yellow, but I am sick of looking. I have always wanted an expedit and feel it was a perfect fit. I really would love to get a bold printed rug for under the table and chairs! That I will keep looking for. Also my walls would be painted turquoise if I was aloud to paint! (So sick of rentals!)

See my precious post of my kitchen and dining area {HERE}

See my "wrapping paper" makeover in my bookcase that houses my Alice in Wonderland collection {HERE}

Wrapping Paper Bookcase Backdrop

After searching for months, I finally found some wrapping paper to put in the back of my large bookcase in my dining room. I wanted something turquoise. I had found some cool fabric at JoAnn's, but didn't feel like buying yards of it! A trip to the dollar store last week paid off.

I found some crazy blue floral paper. I purchased two rolls for $2. It barely fit! The rolls were only 15ft long and I really could of used 16ft, so there are a few places where the white backing of the bookcase shows. For $2 though, who cares! I can always change it later. It's crazy bright...

It really makes everything POP instead of looking so plain and borrowing!
I got some great Alice stuff for Christmas! My parents bought me the Alice Cookie Jar I really wanted...I had to rearrange my original displays in the bookcase to get everything to fit. The cookie jar is rather large! I think it looks so much better now! I also got the Alice Precious Moment that I have wanted for a very long time...
I love combining my Alice stuff with vintage Pyrex and other kitchen items!Above I have a teapot and Vinylmation sitting on a photo album I found at TJ MAXX for $7! I love the pattern on it so much! Below is just a photo of my favorite Alice Vinylmation, the White Rabbit...
I used my box of paint swatches to raise the Alice Book higher in this display...
When I first put the wrapping paper in the back of the bookcase I thought it might be way to bright and bold. I have lived with it now for over a week and it's grown on me, so I guess it stays!

Now I just have to still get artwork, a buffet and a new rug! It's all a slow process. lol
You can view my original Dining Room Post {HERE}

My Kitchen & Dining Area

Yesterday made 1 week since we moved in! I have been unpacking and decorating as fast as I can. I decided I wanted to keep the same theme for our new kitchen that I used at our apartment. I liked my Pyrex and Alice in Wonderland stuff displayed together. I also decided to put my large bookcase in the dining area...
I love all the colors together!The cabinet was a perfect place to display teapots, Pyrex and my Alice collectibles. I plan to get some 11X14 picture frames to put behind the displays that look empty. I have some great photos of Cody and I from our Disney vacation.The floral teapot set is one of my favorite thrift store fines EVER! I paid $15 for it. I placed the creamer and sugar jar that matches it in the kitchen area to help spread out the color scheme. I love the way my Alice Vinylmations look in the bookcase! I may also add some fabric or wrapping paper to the back of the bookcase to help everything stand out better.
For the first time in years, I am displaying the Hall Autumn Leaf pieces that belonged to my grandmother. I finally felt like I was able to work it into my decorating. Another awesome thing happening in the dining area is our new chairs...We purchased them from Big Lots for $30 each! We bought 3 chairs at one store and were lucky enough to get one more at another store. I was so worried I wouldn't end up with 4! They aren't my dream Panton Chairs, but I do love the color they bring to the room. They do sell them in PINK, so of course you know I tried to talk Cody into letting me buy the pink ones. He would say yes, but then pretty much beg me to get any other color. The blue really pops! Now I hope to find a buffet/dresser to paint bright yellow and place on this wall...I have many plans for artwork to hang on the walls. I just need money to do so. lol As far as painting goes, I am undecided. I would love to paint the walls a light aqua turquoise shade. I have to have it "approved" by the housing office on base. BLAH! I thought I could just paint. It's not that big of a deal, I guess I am just scared they will say NO to my color choices. I'm not a neutral kinda girl so I may scare them with my swatches. I am going to live here a few months before deciding to paint. I feel like we are probably going to be living here a while, so painting may be worth while.Okay, there is my 1980's kitchen. Why were these cabinets EVER stylish? Or were they? I would LOVE LOVE to paint these WHITE. I am pretty sure Cody would go to Air Force jail if I did that. lol Besides the cabinets though, I love the layout of the kitchen. It's great that Cody and I both can be in our kitchen together now. At our apartment all we did was bump into each other. It was very frustrating!

I will be searching for more goodies to put in the kitchen. It's a cheerful little place.

I plan to replace my actual cookbooks with vintage ones for decoration. It's way to difficult for me to have to get those down every time I need to use one. My kitchen is super cutesy, but that's what happens when you collect toys and vintage items.
I can't wait to just keep adding to it!
If you would like to see my design board that I made for my dining area go {HERE}!

Design Board - My Dining Area

If you follow my blog you know that I am having some serious decorating withdrawals. We get the keys to our new place on the 21st! I have only seen pictures of a different unit, not the actual one we are renting. That's all it took though to get my wheels turning. Currently we eat in our living room everynight! We need to buy some dining room chairs and unless I find some at a thrift shop I think I may have finally picked a set from Target. Here is a design board I put together for our new dining area....
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I love this color scheme. It probably is one of my favorites! I try not to decorate so matchy matchy, but I gotta say it's what my eye is drawl to. I can't help it! It's what works for me in my home. I am currently trying to decide if I am going to paint or not. If I do I will stick to accent walls probably, so it's easier to paint back when we move out. If you love turquoise and aqua blues, go check out Mandi's kitchen table she just painted over on her blog Vintage Revivals! It's amazing!