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A Library of My Very Own

When we left off in the reading room last time, I had built a wall full of shelves but had yet to finish off the project with sanding, stain, and decor. Well, I couldn’t wait to get this one done and fill up my own library, so I got them sanded with my handy little mouse (affiliate) as soon as possible, and as soon as the weather turned nice enough to give me a chance to open windows for some ventilation, staining commenced!

DIY Library Bookshelves - DesigningDawn.com

DIY Library Bookshelves - DesigningDawn.com

I used the same Minwax Special Walnut (affiliate) stain as on the shelves above the desk. I still really like the rich, medium-toned color, and love how it brings out the grain of the wood.DIY Library Bookshelves - DesigningDawn.com

The process was pretty straight forward. I stained the top and bottom of each shelf, making sure to wipe any excess stain off the walls and brackets. Then I touched up the wall paint as needed. Once everything was nice and dry, I let the shelves air out for a few days before I started on the fun part— filling them up!DIY Library Bookshelves - DesigningDawn.com

While I’m not 100% happy with the styling yet, and will probably be fiddling with that endlessly for the rest of time… at least all the books and other things are off the dining table and on the shelves where they belong. My plan is to eventually replace most of the nick-nack stuff with my ever-growing book collection, and I almost can’t wait to head over to Goodwill to browse around for even more books now that I have the extra room for them!

DIY Library Bookshelves - DesigningDawn.com

DIY Library Bookshelves - DesigningDawn.com

DIY Library Bookshelves - DesigningDawn.com

So all in all, I’m pretty thrilled with this room now. Here is a comparison shot from where we started with this wall of shelves to where we are now:

Before & After DIY Library Bookshelves - DesigningDawn.comIt’s kind of amazing what a difference it made. Having everything up off the floor makes the whole room feel cleaner and more modern, and having shelves all the way to the ceiling makes the space feel bigger too. Love!

This is kind of a hard room to photograph, because it’s connected to the dining room, and has the office area on one side, so in case you’re curious about how the whole space works together with shelves on two different walls, I’ll leave you with this panoramic shot I took with my phone.

DIY Library Bookshelves • DesigningDawn.com

And now, I think I’ll get off the computer and go read something. ;)

*dawn sig

P.S. – This post may contain affiliate links, meaning that I get a small percentage if you purchase things you love through my site, at no additional charge to you. Win-win!


Creative Armoir Storage

Well, we finally got the library shelves finished and all the books put away! Yippee! I’ll be back to share how that turned out with you very soon, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, I’ve obviously had storage space on my mind lately (what with the addition of a whole wall of bookshelves and all), so when the folks from Chairish, an online marketplace for vintage furniture, reached out to me about putting together some ideas for keeping clutter down, I was all about it! Specifically, I hopped on board to show a less common use for a classic piece of furniture – a vintage armoire.

Back before closets were a thing, an armoire, or wardrobe, was originally meant to hold clothes. (Or possibly Narnia.) Now that closets are pretty much standard though, what is one to do with these seemingly irrelevant pieces? Well, these days, you can pretty much fill your vintage armoire with whatever you like. Use it to hold dinnerware, turn it into a bar cabinet, use it to organize your shoe collection. Whatever floats your boat.

Since this is a creative blog… you can probably guess what I chose to fill my imaginary armoire with:

 

Armoire Storage - Cherish - Designing Dawn

I mean, how perfect would it be to store all your art or craft supplies in a vintage armoire like this one? Especially if your craft space is in a room that pulls double duty, like a guest room, for example. Work to your heart’s delight, then just close the cabinet doors and you once again have a beautiful piece of decorative vintage furniture.

Chairish has a huge selection of vintage armoires like this one, so be sure to check them out. And if you’re interested in any of the other items in the inspiration board above, here is a handy list of sources for you:

Printer
Adhesive Cork Boards
Paper
Paint Set
Brushes
Art Caddy
Nine Drawer Craft Bin
Marker Holder
Paper Holder

Have a great day friends!

*dawn sig

P.S. – I was not paid or perked to write this post. I just think vintage furniture is cool. Also this post may contain affiliate links, meaning that I get a small percentage if you purchase things you love through my site, at no additional charge to you. Win-win!