The Shelf Project
When we added onto our house, we turned the old dining room into a guest bedroom, and made the hall connecting the dining room to the kitchen into a broom closet. The arrangement is great, but it left us with a weird little spot in the guest room - a doorframe with the back of a wall sticking out.
Since it was in the guest room, though, and not something we had to look at every day, dealing with the odd space ended up way down on our list of priorities (below, apparently, "wine cellar" and "TV in the garage"). This weekend, though, faced with a rainy day and nothing to do, my husband remembered that he'd long been planning to make the little spot into a built in bookshelf.
So now, I've got a cute, if shallow, bookshelf in my guest room - but it's not decorated. Not even painted. So I've gone in search of some inspiration:
Since it was in the guest room, though, and not something we had to look at every day, dealing with the odd space ended up way down on our list of priorities (below, apparently, "wine cellar" and "TV in the garage"). This weekend, though, faced with a rainy day and nothing to do, my husband remembered that he'd long been planning to make the little spot into a built in bookshelf.
So now, I've got a cute, if shallow, bookshelf in my guest room - but it's not decorated. Not even painted. So I've gone in search of some inspiration:
I like this use of wallpaper, too. My tendency would be to keep the shelves white, but I think this consistent look is fantastic.
I love this little detail. It's totally unexpected and funny - and I love a funny addition to any room. We've already built a base a the the bottom of our shelves, but I'm wondering if I can add something to the base or paint it in a way that brings this kind of humor to the room.
I'm a fan of shelves that are painted in contrasting colors. In my house, if I decide not to go the wallpaper route, I'll definitely paint the back of my shelves a different color than the shelves themselves. In this case, I especially like how the backgrounds are slightly different shades. Not enough that the difference is jarring, or distracts from what's displayed, but just enough to be interesting.
This photo makes me sigh and think "if only." I love shelves that you can see clear through and these are a fantastic way to divide a room.
This is another great example of how to organize books for maximum visual impact - I love the way the colors are grouped. Plus, great narrow shelves!
This wall of shelves caught my eye because they're just so open. Many large shelving systems include lots of vertical divisions. I like how open these are, though - it adds a more modern feel to the space.