Sunday, April 18, 2010

Faux Custom Bookshelf's



Okay, here is my “custom” bookshelf’s for our new house. Since we weren’t able to sell our house in Nevada before we moved back to Utah and bought our new house, we are very, VERY tight with our budget. Sooooo……here was our solution to the tight budget, a near empty room and years and years and years of books being packed into boxes while we moved a gazillion times. (Seriously…this was our 7th move in 3 years-Whew!) I LOVE to read and I’ve even sold a ton of them on Amazon, so this is not very many compared to what we had as college students.

We went to Walmart and bought their plain black bookshelf’s for $29, although they are frequently on sale for $25. After we had put them together, we bought some molding and trim at good old Home Depot and painted it black. (I used matte black spray paint, because I am impatient and wanted them to be finished NOW.)



Total cost of this bookshelf unit was around $120 when all was finished. (Actually, now that I think back, our in-laws bought the bookshelf’s for us as a house-warming gift, so technically they were free.) No complaints.



After cutting and measuring all the pieces, we attached them first with wood glue and then teensy tiny nails. As you can see in the photos that I’m not quite done filling in the holes and fixing all the little spots, but hey, I have to kids and I’m 6 months pregnant. I’ve got more important things to do. Like, sewing and anything else I don’t really feel like doing right this minute. Know what I mean?

Anyway, we also wanted them to be moveable in case we ever do move again. (I’ve already told my hubby that I will NEVER move again and that he can commute as long as he needs to, but I’m staying put! lol!) (Crossing my fingers…and toes…and legs…)

So, we made cuts between each of the bookshelf’s so that they could be pulled apart if needed or could be slid close together so they look like a built-in, one-piece unit. As you can see I haven’t gotten my hubby to get them as close together as they could and should be, but hey, I’m basically lazy and I’m pretty happy with them anyway.



On another note, I have to say that everything in this room, aside from very few items, was either hand-me-down’s we got as newlyweds, given to us since then, or bought and fixed up from a thrift store.



The little stand with the lamp on it, was a hand-me-down and is still in need of a good painting. The couch was $20 from DI and I just bought a couch cover to make it a little more attractive (okay, a lot more). The coffee table was from DI for $10 and I sanded it down, fixed the drawer and painted it black. The brown, gorgeous, wing-back chair in front of the bookcase was given to us by my in-laws. (I’m kicking myself right now, because I found a nicer one at DI for $20 which I was too chicken to buy because of all the moving and inconvenience it would be to grab it that minute, that they replaced it with and gave us the brown chair.) It is soooo comfy anyway and in pretty good shape. Not even any wear and tear on the velvet fabric. It’s my reading chair. Most days you can find me there with a good book or reading my scriptures whenever I can pull away from the kids for more than 3o seconds.

The one item that was pretty spendy was the large picture hanging above the couch. I love, love, love this picture. I got it for Christmas a few years back when Deseret Book does all their artwork on sale for 50% off. So instead of $300, my hubby picked it up for $150. (With a lot of hinting and nagging.) It is called “Oh, Jerusalem” by Greg Olsen.





The gold and black chair, which I am extremely proud of, was my very first attempt at upholstering anything. It used to be a funny shade of green. We got two of them from my in-laws, so I spent HOURS taking one apart, painted it black and purchased some fabric for under $20 from Hobby Lobby and improvised until I was happy with it. Let me tell you that nail head trim may be pretty, but it is no easy thing to get them on straight and anywhere near perfect. Just don’t look too closely at mine. I found the pillow on the chair from DI last week for $1.

Here’s a picture of the other chair that hasn’t been redone yet. I use it as my reading chair in my master bedroom. See the lamp on the table, which was also hand-me-down free, I picked up the pair of them for $5 at the DI. So gorgeous!



Do you see that tiny little shelf up in the top right hand corner? I bought about a gazillion of these because I love them and they are easy to put up by myself. They are only $5 each at the Home Depot.

Okay, so I made the curtains and pillows on the couch, but when I trimmed the curtains, I wasn’t very patient and trimmed them too short. So, the plan is to buy some fringe or beads or something and attach them to the bottom. But…not until the budget allows that.

Hey, I never claimed to be perfect. Still trying on that one…

On that note, I’m not very good at arranging things so they look good together. HELP! Any suggestions would be most welcomed! I’m slowly, but surely, putting my home together. It really is the second home I’ve ever owned, but our first house that we own in Nevada, I didn’t feel like I had enough time to really decorate it. We built it, lived in it for 9 months and got recruited back to Utah. Hardest decision we’ve ever had to make, but well worth it. It’s soooo good to be back.

Linking up to

32 comments:

  1. I loooove your bookshelf i have got to make/get a huge shelf :)

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  2. They look great! What a wonderful idea!!! Sue @awelllovedhome.com

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  3. Very creative with the bookshelves. I love thrifty ideas like that. Looks great.

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  4. Love this!! They look great! :)

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  5. Your Home is VERY comfortable looking. I have 2 white bookshelves I will be "correcting" when we move into our new home! Thank you for the great photos, and details.

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  6. Love the bookshelf project! Can you ever have too much shelf space or too many books? Probably, but I love them anyway.

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  7. Wow, what a great looking bookshelf unit. I'm doing a tutorial on how to build your own storage unit from scratch. I usually go with built-ins but some people are interested in units that can be moved with them. I'm going to link to this post so they can see this option too. You got a custom look in a fraction of the time it would have taken to build and paint the entire thing. Great job!

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  8. I love these am I'm totally going to copy you because I have 5 bookshelves next to each other that need something to tie them together. Thanks for the tip and great work!

    I'd love for you to share this at my party this Thursday!

    www.houseofhepworths.com

    xoxo

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  9. I think it looks great!!! Now I may have to get my husband to do something like that for me!
    btw~ i found you on thrifty decor chik...

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  10. Such a clever way to get the custom bookcase look! I love it!

    Just popped over from The Girl Creative...

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  11. I love what you did and will like it copy your idea. If so, I will give you credit for being my inspiration.. Thank you for a great idea that will solve several problems for me.~!

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  12. I wish we had room for some large bookshelves like that! I am book fanatic myself!

    Thanks for linking up to the Mad Skill party!

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  13. Wow...way to vamp up those book shelves! Thanks for joining us for Anything Related!
    ~Bridgette

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  14. Love what you did with the bookshelves!

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  15. looks great!! way to think outside the box with your bookshelves! very creative :)

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  16. Very nice idea. Love it. I have books coming out my ears, thanks for the inspiration!

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  17. I love your bookshelf! Very creative and beautiful idea!

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  18. You did an awesome job! I absolutely love your work. I am your newest follower. I can't wait to see your other posts.
    Bonnie

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  19. Hooray for Home Depot. The moldings make all the difference. Great job.

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  20. Hi-- great look for the bookcases; they really do look custom this way.

    I didn't see your link to The Shabby Chic Cottage website; I came here from there, and need to go back!
    Cass

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  21. Great job! I just got a small bookshelf like that and I would love to put some trim on it. I'm inspired. Thanks!

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  22. Your link got the most hits at this week's Mad Skills party, so I will be featuring your blog and a few of your other posts tomorrow morning! Grab an "I was featured" button if you'd like!

    madincrafts.blogspot.com

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  23. AWESOME! I love that you can move them. I've moved 32 times in my life, (I'm 31) so I get the whole move a lot thing. I think half my boxes are books! This last move I was unpacking books and my husband mocked me saying since we'd only be here a year it was silly. But they make me happier than unpacking even all my pictures! LOVE it!

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  24. Wow, you did a great job! I LOVE books, and seeing your pictures makes me want to come over and spend a few hours in front of those shelves :)

    Thanks for linking this up to A Little Creative Therapy with Life in the Pitts.

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  25. Nice custom book shelves. You did a great job on the chair, it looks so much more updated.

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  26. Great looking bookshelves! Your whole room looks wonderful.

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  27. What a busy girl you are!!! Great job!

    Thanks for linking up!

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  28. You have done an amazing job! The room looks organised, comfortable and lovely.

    Best wishes,
    Natasha.

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  29. What a clever and creative idea! The molding looks fabulous and I would have never guessed they were the shelves from walmart. Amazing job!Thanks so much for joining the Sunday Showcase! I greatly appreciate it. Hope you have a wonderful week! ~Stephanie Lynn

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  30. I have been looking into painting the Walmart bookshelves at my house too and stumbled on your blog...what kind of paint did you use and has it stayed on well?

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