Painting and Styling Bookshelves

Good Morning! This weekend I completed one of the smaller projects on my to-do list and love how drastic of a difference a little bit of paint can do. We have two built-in bookshelves that divide our living room from the entry and while I love built-ins, these were stark white and a bit bland. I decided to paint the insides after seeing some serious inspiration from Pinterest! {I apologize in advance for my photos- I took them at night after I finished the project}

A shot of the bookshelves before we even moved in! Notice the original color of the hardwood and the paint.

The bookshelves un-styled and literally filled with no plan in mind… Yes, that’s our new coffee table that will be painted hopefully soon! I picked it up for a steal and it will serve as a great fill-in until I can order the coffee table I’ve been wanting from Worlds Away.

I took out everything from the bookshelves and organized the books by color- but we’ll get into that later! I also made sure to clean down the surface that I was going to be painting.

The top 2 shelves were adjustable so I removed them to make painting easier.

I knew that I wanted to go dark but didn’t necessarily want to go with plain black on this one. After sifting through different colors and undertones of black, I ended up with Behr’s Thorny Branch. In direct sunlight, it has a bit of an olive green undertone, but in regular lighting it has a muddy effect. Brown, black and even some slate. I like how it adds depth without being too harsh. I purchased a quart of paint with primer to cover up the original paint. It only took two coats to get a nice and saturated color.

Kind of muddy, right? I always like the greige, putty like colors and this was just a darker version of it. I adjusted the shelves so that the middle shelf can showcase some taller trinkets. Since it’s also at eye level, I wanted it to be more of a focal point.

And here’s an after shot all styled and pretty. After taking Justina Blakeney’s online course on styling for your home (which I would highly recommend), I decided that this was the perfect opportunity to put those skills to the test. Here are a few snapshots of how it all came together with the pieces I had on hand.

When styling a bookshelf, here are few tips that helped me along the way:

• Mix different shapes. If you have square books and art in square frames, throw in a circular trinket to offset all those edges.
• Organize by color. I organized all my books by color and size. Then I picked which shelves would house which color.
• High and low. Make sure that there are pieces that are placed both vertically and horizontally in the shelves. This will allow for your eye to rest and see the full picture.
• Go diagonal. Alternate shapes and sizes by following a zig-zag pattern on the shelves. For example: if you have your magazines stacked vertically on the left then have something sit vertically in the next shelf on the right hand side.
• Make it personal. While it is easy to get carried away with making it look pretty, make sure to include pieces and even framed photos that make it look and feel personal. This is after all, your home and an extension of you.

Hope this was helpful and thanks as always for reading!

Big Kiss

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