Anyway, I’m so in love with how my built-ins look now that I’m a bit embarrassed of my “before” photos. I’m no decorator, and I’m sure there’s still more improvement that could be made, but here we go…
I have symmetrical built-ins on either side of the fireplace, so there are a lot of shelves to tackle. Below is the before & after for the ones on the left side of the fireplace.
And here’s the before & after for the right side of the fireplace.
So much cleaner and less cluttered, right? I only bought a couple of new things, too, so it was a practically free project.
The first thing I did was grab an empty box so when I pulled things off, I had a place to collect the “extras.” I restricted each shelf to 2-3 items.
Previously, I had photo books scattered, some standing up, some laying flat. I took a consistent approach of making a few neat stacks of the photo books to lay flat on various shelves. I turned them so that the spines are to the left, which makes them look more cohesive with the white page edges showing at the front. I then placed a smaller item or photo frame on each stack.
My new additions are on the bottom left shelf of the top photo. I thought a lamp would make it feel more cozy, especially since that corner of the room is a bit dark. And I bought the cool silver decorative piece (no idea what to call it!) next to it at Home Goods. I still think that shelf needs a little help – any ideas? The picture frame hides the electrical outlet, and the Alexa speaker won’t move further because of its cord. So I got a little stuck there.
I took my box of extra goodies and reorganized the bookshelf in the home office (the “before” photo of which is even more embarrassing!). And now I’m working on the built-ins in the upstairs game room. I’ll post more on those soon.
I’d love to see more inspiration from your built-ins and bookshelves! Please share what works for you.
They look great Meredith! I now notice the wall color behind the built-ins much more . Another thing I noticed in looking through lots of decorating magazines is that they always have their frames / art facing straight and not angled. And switching out pieces can change things up from time to time. Happy decorating
Thanks for being my inspiration to make this change! Feel free to come rearrange my shelves anytime, since you’re quite good at it!