Entirely Smitten

Creative Bookshelf Ideas {Round Up}

If you're a book fiend like my friend Jac, you've been stocking up at Borders since the day they announced that they're going out of business.  Books are one of those things that most people have a collection of but are hardly ever displayed.  They're set on a bookshelf and that's it.  Aside from the design of the bookshelf itself and the titles of the books within the shelf, the collector's personality isn't able to show through.  Here are a few creative ways to store and display books that exude personality!

 

Right out of the gate a beautiful masterpiece by designer Shawn Soh.  Gorgeous!

 

These invisible bookshelves were featured on life hacker.  Aren't they awesome?!  I have seen these before, but normally the bottom book gets ruined so I'm always turned off.  Not this one!!!  Psst... click the link, it's a tutorial!!!

 

Sweet mother of Pearl, I'm in love.  I normally don't do this style, but it has been done so well that I can't not like it!   Studio Mama you are a genius!

 

Take a close look... those bookshelves are RAIN GUTTERS!  Amazing!  I love that the shelves can be installed nice and low so that they are in reach of little hands, but my favorite part is that the colorful books become part of the decor.  So cute, Sweet Cheeks Tasty Treats!

Another version I found over at Diane's Notes to Self :)   Love it!

 

An easy way to make a huge collection of books instantly more appealing is to arrange them by color!  Using this type of arrangement will draw in your guests.  Instead of your collection being an eye sore it will become a focal point!  And just when you thought it couldn't get more lovely...

The underside of the shelves have been adorned with whimsical wallpaper scraps.  Ahhhhhh... LOVE!  See more here at Apartment Therapy!

 

Sorting books by color means that even when you're using regular old shelves, like the simple industrial shelves pictured above, it still looks exciting!  Your blog name is so appropriate, Making Life Sweeter one project at a time!

 

How beautiful are these old wine crates re-purposed as bookshelves?!  Bailey's Home and Garden nails it!

 

Another great wine crate idea!  Those of you who find an uncluttered house to appear empty and unloved, this one's for you!  Apartment Therapy, I love you!

 

This one is a little pricey, but it could certainly be an easy DIY!  Two coffee tables sawn in half and stacked... obviously there are other steps to make sure it's stable, but that's about it.  Umbra Furniture

 

This tutorial (originally from one of my favorite blogs ever... Design*Sponge) was a feature on Curbly (another one of my favorite blogs ever!!! 

 

This one is quite possibly my favorite ever!  I found this one Flikr  I'm not sure which I love more: the shelf or the herringbone floors!  I also found a tutorial to make this baby at Ana White

 

There are so many more awesome ways to store books.  No more excuses for my ugly, haphazard collection!

Using Chalkboard Paint in the Home {Round Up}

I have a major crush on chalkboard paint.  I remember being in 5th grade and a friend's dad painted a small section of her room with chalkboard paint and I was HORRIBLY jealous.  I may have even said something like, "Wow.  That's dumb.  Who would want that?"  (Refer to Aesop's Fable "The Fox and the Grapes!")  But in reality I am passionately in love with it!  There are parts of me that wants to paint every wall in my house with it and just use chalk to draw shelves, frames, flowers and such, but that may be a little too much, even for me!  I am definitely incorporating it somehow though. 

I have a nice big wall in my dining room that would look amazing with floor to ceiling chalk paint.  After casually mentioning it to a friend she cringed.  I of course died laughing because she's kind of a color-phobe like me.  I love color, but when I attempt to put it in my house I get scared and go neutral.  The same goes for design.  I drool over quirky, abstract home designs in catalogs, yet my house is beige-y beige with not a single shocking piece of decor.  Well, no more!  My soon-to-be chalkboard painted dining room will be my declaration of freedom!  Freedom from Beige-itis!   

I scoured the webs of internet to rattle me up some inspiration and found nothing but awesomeness! 

 

Exhibit A:

 

Heather Chadduck, the amazing style editor at Cottage Living magazine, shows us that a chalkboard wall is not too bold or too modern to place in a dining room!

 

Exhibit B:

This chalkboard border was done by Faiella Design and was a feature on Apartment Therapy and for obvious reasons.  Simply stunning.

 

Exhibit C:

Feast magazine knows what's up! 

 

Exhibit D:

Flicker member NEGS26 stylishly displays their spices with chalkboard paint!

 

Exhibit E:

Apartment Therapy is really diggin' the chalkboard walls!  It's good to know that they're on my side!

 

Exhibit F:

How cute is this one from Rusty Bluebird?

 

Exhibit G:

I love Pottery Barn.  These chalkboard tiles are AWESOME!  (Pssst... click the link - they're on clearance!!!)

 

Exhibit H:

Who doesn't need this amazing calendar?!  Photo Credit: Dan Duchars

 

Exhibit I:

Who would've thought that slapping some chalkboard paint onto those old sliding closet doors could transform them to this?!!!  IN LOVE!  Bravo!  (Found this on Houzz.com but I'm not sure if that is the actual source of this delightful piece.)

 

Exhibit J:

I know this style doesn't appeal to everyone and some will think it looks messy, but I love it!  I love that they hung empty frames to write love notes in!  Great work, Isabella & Max rooms!

 

Exhibit K:

There's something about this that just draws me in.  It may not be a very practical room, but Anthropologie has me charmed anyway.

 

Exhibit L:

Omg.  Drooling.  See, neat straight lines and neutral colors get me every time!  I dream of the day when all of my food is stored identical glass jars.  The Style Sisters are amazing!

 

Ok, so now I have you convinced that chalkboards rule, right?!  Well boy do I have a surprise for you!  Instead of paying out the wazoo for fancy chalkboard paint that only comes in black or green, make your own!

 

Here's the Recipe:

1 cup of paint (any color of your choice)

2 tablespoons of white non-sanded tile grout

 

That's it!  Just shake up your paint color as usual, stir in the grout until there's no lumps, and PAINT!  Woot woot!

Beautiful, demure bedroom ideas

MacGyver and I have come to the {sad} decision that it is time to split up our children.  They have all been happily sharing a bedroom for as long as they've had each other, so it took much convincing for the kids to think this would be a good change.  Although their bedroom is enormous and fits them quite comfortably, it's time for our eldest to have her own space.  Sharing a room with her kid brother who plays with every toy he owns all at once (and very loudly) has to be more difficult than she lets on- especially since most of her time is spent reading, writing, and creating art. 

The bedroom she'll be moving into will be perfect for her.  The windows in the room face east and the morning sunlight pours into the room.  I'm currently in the visualization process for the room's design.  I'm feeling whites, grays, soft textures, reclaimed wood or just soft driftwood accents, a {tasteful} canopy?, maybe some birds?  (not overdone birds, though,) books, etc., so kind of a "rustic chic" if that makes any sense.  My go-to resource for expanding and refining my ideas?  Google images!  Lets see what a few keywords bring up:

 

"Daybed":

This is lovely!  This gorgeous daybed from Pottery Barn (no longer available) is so inviting.  The color is perfectly demure, yet not in the least boring!  Who wouldn't want to curl up with a book in there?!  (Ps- Canopy, too?!!  Score!)

 

"bed canopy":

(I didn't want "canopy bed" because my mind instantly conjures up visions of white metal, tacky brass and lacy pink!)

Holy mother of pearl!  How stunning is this whimsy creation of Attila Design?!  Literally just spent 45 minutes browsing her etsy store!  Would be an amazing splurge at $12,600, but not one I'd live through, since my husband would probably kill me over that!

 

This one from House Beautiful is very sweet, and along the lines of what I'm looking for, but not rustic enough and a bit too mature for an eight year old girl.

 

Oh.  My.  Goodness.   How stinking sweet?!  I love the soft, muted colors.  I also love the birds!  How perfect!  This room is pretty much exactly what I had envisioned!  I couldn't find a link to the original content, but I found the picture at Your Decorating Hotline

 

My thoughts and ideas are beginning to come together to form the room design.  I will post more as we begin the project.  In the meantime, feast your eyes on these bright, cheery, and fun canopy ideas:  

This one is so me!  Thanks Style Hive!

 

This one from Lucky Magpie and The Handsome Panda is super cute and pssst she has a tutorial for it!!!

 

Ok, I can't figure out where I found this one, but it is too lovely not to include.  As soon as I find the link I will include it!

Wow!  The Decorista is AMAZING!  Follow the link to see so many drool-worthy canopies!!!  This one is a bit over the top, but I LOVE it!

 

Ok, so maybe these aren't canopies, but they're so cute!  For more cute beds and canopies, check out Project Nursery :)

 

 When you think about it, you spend 1/3 of your life in your bedroom... it should look pretty, shouldn't it?

My {small and lofty} fixation

I've always been attracted to small houses and cottages that have little lofts above them.  The attraction was more of a "wow-so-cute-and-perfect-too-bad-I-have-a-zillion-kids-and-10-tons-of-stuff" kind of attraction.  Being cooped up in my house for the last 192 hours I've done an awful lot of looking around and realizing that this house is SO BIG and full of nothing important.  When we first moved in, it felt so empty.  Everyone told us "Don't worry.  You'll acquire things along the way and you'll have more stuff than you'll know what to do with."  And good god, here I am.  I feel like I live in a shrine devoted to stuff.  Our stuff takes up more room in this house than we do.  All I can think about is Fight Club: "You buy furniture.  You tell yourself, this is the last sofa I will ever need in my life.  Buy the sofa, then for a couple years you're satisfied that no matter what goes wrong, at least you've got your sofa issue handled.  Then the right set of dishes.  Then the perfect bed.  The drapes.  The rug.  Then you're trapped in your lovely nest, and the things you used to own, now they own you."   - Chuck Palahniuk 

This stuff is holding us emotionally hostage.  It's crazy.  If I didn't have so much stuff (which in my opinion we actually have less than most) we could fit anywhere as a family of 5.  Seriously?  What do we truly need?  Do I need 15 or so pairs of dress pants?  18 or so pairs of pumps?  Nope.  A huge TV that we spend our time watching pretend people live their lives so we can procrastinate or escape from our real lives?  (Side note: we actually shut off our cable two summers ago and we thought our lives would suffer tremendously.  HAHA!  I don't know how I accomplished anything before.  We never turned it back on and there is literally nothing I miss about it.)  It's all crap.  We don't need any of it.  None of that improves the quality of our lives, and in fact, most of them hinder it.  So I am officially vowing to rid our house of everything we do not need by May 31st.  I have a feeling that once we achieve this monumental task, we will realize how much of our living space was just taken up with our stuff and actually went unused.  That's when we will DOWNSIZE!  YAY!!!! 

Oh?  Not yay?  You think downsizing is a bad idea?  Small isn't fun?  Small isn't awesome?  Well feast your eyes on these delicious displays of tiny-ness in all their puny glory...