From Cluttered to Styled

We have a built in bookcase in
our master bedroom. This bookcase
has hook ups for a t.v. but I'm not
a fan of having a t.v. in a bedroom.
I want our bedroom to be a peaceful haven where I can
unwind and escape from all the noise that life creates.
So this bookcase was nothing but a catch all for books
and whatever else happened to land there.
It was cluttered and messy looking,
and to say that it was driving me crazy
was an understatement.

It was time to tackle this area and clear all that clutter!

The first thing I did was remove everything
from the bookshelves and give it a good dusting.
Next, I sorted through everything that was on the bookshelves.
Some things I kept, while other items were
boxed up and carted to Goodwill.
Then came the fun part.
I went shopping at Hobby Lobby to look for
a few more items to style the shelves.
I really didn't have a design in mind as to
how I wanted to style the shelves.
I walked around the store until something
caught my eye, and threw things in my cart
that I felt would blend well together.
I wanted our bookshelves to look like
a designer had come in and styled them.
The one thing I was sure about though, I wanted this
bookcase to be styled so that it appealed to both
men and women, nothing too frilly or too masculine.
I wanted a neutral gender look.

By adding back a few sentimental items,
and a few new and old items,
I was able to transform the look of this
bookcase from a jumbled mess,

to a clean styled designer look for under $40.00.

Let's look at each shelf to see how I styled them,
and at the end of the post I will give you the breakdown
as to what everything cost to style this bookcase.

Working from the top left shelf.
I discovered this concrete planter
and added a round faux grass orb to it.

To the right is this pretty round concrete orb.

Below the round orb is an urn that I found in Goodwill
that was a hideous gold color. I painted it with acrylic paint
to look like concrete. It's even heavy like real concrete.
Do you notice a theme here?
I made a string of wood beads with tassels and placed them
over the urn so that they looked like they were spilling out
and over the urn. The leather piece in the background is
an old purse that used to be my Mother-In-Law's
when she was very young.

To the left of the urn is a fat cat figurine that is sitting on a stack of old books.

Below the fat cat is a champagne colored starburst on a stand.

To the right of the starburst is another concrete planter
with a round faux plant placed in it. The little bird figurine
was from my Mom years ago.

The very bottom shelf is the shelf with the most.
In the background is a woven water hyacinth plate charger.
A large ginger jar that sits on a stack of old books,
and a medium ginger jar.
A faux plant was tucked in between the 2 ginger jars.
A grapevine ball that sits on top of an old Bible that
was Hubby's great grandfather's, and 2 twine balls
that were strategically placed.

Here is a closer look at all the shelves.
So much better to look at.

This bookcase sits in between our master bath
and our walk in closet.
This is the view when you walk into our master bedroom.
No more cluttered mess!

I couldn't have hit Hobby Lobby on a better day.
Everything I bought was 50-80% off.
Gotta love a good sale!

Purchased from Hobby Lobby:

Concrete planters - $3.50 ea. (50% off)

Faux grass orb - $2.00 (50% off)

Faux plant - $2.50 (50% off)

Faux ivy plant - $2.00 (50% off)

Starburst on stand - $6.00 (50% off) - This was the most expensive item I bought.

Large ginger jar - $3.00 (80% off) clearance sale

Medium ginger jar - $2.80 (80% off) clearance sale

Purchased from Goodwill:

Large urn - $1.50 - painted to look like concrete

Purchased from Michael's:

2 packages wood beads - $2.50 ea. (40% off)

Remainder of items were things I've had for years.

That's it for this week.

Until Next Time,

Veronica