STAGING A BOOKCASE IN MY LIVING ROOM

When it comes to decorating, one of my favorite things to do is stage bookcases. I love setting up displays and arranging items. I thought it would be fun to show you how I came up with my newest display in our living room. Some people don't feel like they are good at it so I thought sharing my process with you may be helpful. If not, you can just enjoy my pictures hopefully. I started out with boxes up items! Everything from picture frames, vases, collectibles and sentimental things.


I started with unpacking items to get a feel of everything I had. It really helps when you can see it all together. Since my bookcase is white, I wanted to make sure I had pops of colors in my display so that things would stand out better. Since I decided to display my Vinylmations in BILLY bookcases on either side of my large bookcase, I wanted to make sure my display was somewhat simple. The Vinylmations are very colorful.


For this bookcase display I decided to do a layout that I felt was "mirrored". I don't think designers use this term for arranging items, but I just did. (Maybe I should trademark it. HA!) I like to keep things pleasing to the eye and balanced. That's basically what I mean by mirrored. I tend to always decorate using symmetry. Here is an example...

I numbered each shelf of the bookcase. Number 2 and Number 3 are "mirrored" to look alike.
Number 1 and Number 4 are alike.

In the first example you can see that I used books to give the items some height in the bookcase.
I used similar hot pink frames and sat a Precious Moment figurine next to it.
It helps to make both displays match each other.


You can see how I did it above with the white vases and the silver picture frames as well.
I like that the displays are similar but not exactly the same.
I think it's very pleasing to the eye. Below is a sample of how Shelf 1 and 4 match...



I realize it may be harder for other people to have such a matchy look because they don't have as much stuff as I do.
(I swear I am not a hoarder.)
I am hoping this is helpful and inspiring.
My bookcase has a total of 8 shelves. Here is what my finally display looks like...



I am very happy with how my display turned out. It makes me happy! :)
Here are some more pictures, because I love pictures...

The California crate was left behind by the previous home owner! YAY!


The Precious Moment figurine above belonged to my aunt who passed away earlier this year.
She had a huge collection of them and I always remember as a child that the "one in the bathtub" was my favorite.
It makes me smile every time I see it.

I like to collect buttons and pins...


One of my favorite photos of my friends and I from over 10 years ago!
(Geez, I'm old!)
You can also see the photo on the right of my dad and I when I was around 4 years old!


So what do you think?
Doing displays are so fun to me. Putting things together and layering them.
My best advise would be to just try different things. It took me hours to get this display to look a way that I loved.
Use books, frames, art, collectables and vases.
Mix it up and have FUN!

Next step for my living room is painting some artwork!
You can see other bookcase displays I have done in the past by clicking HERE.
Tour my home HERE.

HELLO YELLOW LIVING ROOM!

One room down. Many more to go. Painting is what I'm talking about of course. I think it's pretty awesome that at the end of the first week of living in our house I already had a room painted. I haven't unpacked much though. The kitchen and daily needed items are done, but not much more. My computer is on an end table in the living room and I blog sitting on the floor. Gotta keep the posts coming! :) First I am going to share a few BEFORE photos of our living room....


The room is dark with the curtains pulled and I hated the paneling! It was quite a process for me to decide on a wall color for the living room. Lighting is everything! A color that looks good at the home improvement store doesn't mean it will look good when you get it home. It took 2 guys at Home Depot to get my paint color matched correctly and 2 wasted "oops" cans of paint. I felt bad for them really.


I knew before we even moved into our house that I wanted a shade of mustard yellow! I did test the swatch out in the living room lighting before purchasing it. I had about 10 different shades of yellow to choose from. The color I finally decided on was Golden Glow by Olympic. Before I started painting the room yellow I had to first paint the baseboards and trim in the room. The previous homeowners thought it was a wonderful idea to paint the base boards the same yucky shade of brown as the walls. I used white trim paint by Glidden to paint the trim...


I decided to paint the trim on Friday night that way I could start the yellow Saturday morning. I couldn't wait to get started! It took two coats of paint to cover up the brown. I love Glidden paint because it drys fast making it easy to get the job done. Then the morning came and my least favorite part of painting needed to be done, cutting in the entire room...


What a difference already! Huge difference in the brown and yellow. Then it was time for the super fun part, rolling the walls! I love watching the room change and transform into something beautiful.


It was such a great feeling to pour the paint in the tray. The last room I painted was back in 2010 and it was a small white bathroom. BORING. To see the bold bright color in front of me was pure happiness & joy! Painting is so therapic for me. :)


This color is amazing really. Even after all the attempts by the Home Depot coworkers to get it correct it still wasn't. Once the paint started drying I realized the color was "off" and much brighter then I wanted. The color changes throughout the day depending on the light. It goes from mustard yellow, a mac n cheese color, orange and sometimes it reminds me of the color of a school bus. I like bright colors, so it's working for me. :)


As if painting wasn't enough to be dealing with on Saturday our sewer decided it was going to back up. Luckily we were able to get a plumber to our house right away for emergency service. Sadly our carpet is pretty nasty in the basement now and my mattress for my guest bedroom got wet. GROSS. I guess we will be replacing some carpet sooner then we expected. At least none of the hardwood floors got damaged. In the end that's all I care about really. Sunday came and it was time to tackle the wood paneling. I hate wood paneling! I decided to paint the entire wall white, fireplace and all...


(Yes that is a big Smurf sitting on my couch.)

Currently the fireplace is only primed. I need a break from painting for a few days to get caught up on other things. We really could of used a paint sprayer to paint it. It took forever and it's still not perfect. I am happy with all the white. It really pops with the yellow walls! The room is so much lighter and inviting now.


It truly is amazing what you can do with paint. Now I get to stage all my stuff in the room and add all the fun details. I didn't have a plan for this room really. I just knew we needed to keep our vintage couch and I wanted yellow walls. I hope to get some curtains this weekend at IKEA. I do like a pair at World Cost Market but they are kinda pricey. We'll see what happens. I look forward to going through all my stuff and decorating. I plan to paint some paintings for the room also. I could probably spend a few months in this room alone if I wanted to. I leave you with a photo I took while typing this post. The living room has turned into a kitty lounge....


More photos as I get things done :)

My Living Room {May 2012}

I wanted to share updated pictures of my living room! Last month I mentioned how I wanted to hang a world map over my couch. Once the idea was in my head there was no turning back! We found a world map for $6.00 at Barnes & Noble... I would of loved to had it custom framed, but paying to have that done was unrealistic for us right now. Instead we purchased foam chair rail from Lowes and just made a frame for it. The poster is just taped on the wall and then we used heavy duty poster hanging tape to hang the frame right over the map. The frame is foam and very light weight. We just glued the frame together with a glue gun. The total cost for the project was about $30. I am still hunting for throw pillows for our couch. I want some big white fuzzy ones. Homegoods just opened a new store in Fort Collins Colorado, so I see a trip in my future! Pretty sure I will find some great pillows there! Going along with the whole map theme, I decided to frame a large California map and hang it over my desk. Now I can daydream about California even MORE everyday... I already had the map from when I went to California last year, so in other words it was FREE artwork to me. I am pretty happy with the look of the living room. I think it's funny that my vintage couch ended up matching the world map! On the other side of the room is where my sitting corner where we usually eat dinner. That is where my vintage chairs are. I hung a map of downtown L.A. and Flagstaff, Arizona in the corner... I am in love with my butterfly pictures from IKEA. There are my globes I got antiquing last month! Overall I feel like the room is finished. I will add pillows to my couch if I ever find the right ones and I may hang a few more things over in my sitting corner. I feel like it's HOME now. We love our world map and look at it everyday!

Thrifty Finds: My Living Room Chairs

While thrifting a few weeks ago I found some cute mid-century modern chairs! It was $15 for the pair.
I needed chairs to put at my vintage table in my living room. I was getting so sick of looking! Everything I wanted started at $150 each. When you go thrifting over and over and NEVER find anything, you get very discouraged. I am glad I didn't go buy anything expensive and was patient.
I am very happy with the end result. The fabric is from JoAnn's and only cost me $6 for 2yards! The fabric gave me another POP of turquoise in my living room! YAY!
Chloe likes to wiggly, run in circles and play when I am trying to photograph her! She is so cute!
Stay tuned for photos of the entire living room!
(and more cute pictures of Chloe.)

Linking up over at Her Library Adventures!

My Ottoman Makeover

After months of trying to find fabric that was affordable, durable and large enough to fit my ottoman, the search finally is over! With the help of my awesome husband the ottoman is recovered and looking good. Here is a reminder of what the ottoman looked like when we purchased it...

Of course it's no surprise that I would pick a hot pink chevron fabric to cover it with....

The chevron is a big deal to me because I love the pattern so much, but yet didn't have it anywhere in my house. I don't care if some people hate it or are sick of seeing it. I think it works well on the ottoman and in the room...Now if I could only get myself to buy a new pretty gray sofa! That's not happening anytime soon. We love our ugly vintage couch. The empty wall over my sofa is killing me. I have ideas, just haven't been able to apply them yet.My living room has so many things missing. I don't know if will ever get it finished. I have blank walls everywhere. I feel if I painted the room, it would feel more homey. This cream/off- white/antique color isn't working for me. Even if I painted the room a bright white it would be better. I also rearranged my Billy bookcase...
Jonathan Adler Bookends | Vintage Ceramic Kitty Figurine
I still have my sad little sitting corner. I have been looking for some arm chairs to put here. For now I borrow 2 of our dining room chairs, because this is where we eat dinner. We like to watch TV while we are eating. I have thought about doing a photo frame collage corner or hanging some wall shelves for some Vinylmations. I can't decide!!!

For now I just keep searching for goodies to put in the room.

Fabric purchased from Denver Fabrics

You can see my original post of the living room {HERE}

My Living Room - December 2011

Last week I shared my Kitchen & Dining Area with you. Today we will tour the Living Room. When we first moved in I was so super excited when I saw how LARGE the space was!I knew I would finally have room for all of our furniture. There is nothing I hate more then a cluttered and cramped room! I also decided that I wanted my computer to be in our living room. I enjoy spending most of my time in the living area, so it just made more sense to put my work area in the same room. Here is the view from the Kitchen...

Now you can see where I blog!!!

I decided I needed some Vinylmations in the empty corner. I purchased the shelves at Target on clearance for $7! I may spray paint them to add some more color. I am in love with my Billy Bookcases...
This is where I store office supplies and "not so pretty" stuff. It's a great little corner for me to blog and pay the bills! Cody anchored them to the wall and together so that they can't fall and crush me. What a great husband he is!I found the perfect place for my Michelin Man. The silver and white vase is new. I just purchased it for $8 at Big Lots. I love it! They had a few other cool designs also. Here is the rest of the room currently...There are still many many finishing touches to be done. That is what keeps it fun though! I never mentioned that I had painted my ottoman white! I can't believe how much better it looks now. I used Bullseye Primer and about 3 coats of Semi-Gloss white paint from Walmart. The funky fabric on it has grown on me, but I found fabric to recover it. Hopefully that will happen sometime in the next few months. It's going to be beautiful,....that's all I am saying. Okay, onto the couch wall...My vintage sofa has a special place in my heart. It will always be "our first couch in Wyoming" and it was FREE. I would love to go and buy a new gray mircofiber couch that I dream of having. I just don't feel like spending the money on it right now when our vintage sofa is working perfectly fine. I feel like the color works with all the other colors in the room. My main battle at this point is picking out art for over the couch. I may paint something, because I seem to never find anything I LOVE. Across from the sofa is looking good I think...I think our TV Stand looks nice by itself. I don't want to clutter up the area. Cody wants a bigger TV of course, but that's not happening right now. lol Tucked away in the corner is our vintage pedestal dining table...This is a sad lonely corner. I need to clean up the cords, find a lamp shade, add 2 chairs and artwork! Target has a great selection of drum shades, I just haven't gone yet. The other corner holds my orange Billy Bookcase...
I really need a skirt for my Christmas tree!!It's nice to have everything in place and unpacked. Now I can go thrifting and look for treasures to finish the room. It's comfortable and functional for now. This room is a huge room to paint. I would probably go with a light gray. I just don't want to worry about having to paint EVERYTHING BACK when we move out. I just try to put pops of color in the room to dress it up. I feel like I have a good foundation and now I just have to add all the finishing touches.