Today was library day. As I was relishing the quiet that comes with a sleeping babygirl and two boys engrossed in books, I pulled out my camera to capture the moment. That’s my oldest, Layne. Each of my kids loves books but Layne breathes books. When he’s really into a book, Layne will get up extra early before anyone else and just sit in that chair and read and read and READ. {He’s currently loving the Smells Like Dog series and refusing to get a hair cut. Those things have nothing in common – just thought I would mention them. Layne starts third grade in two weeks. Third grade, people! That is huge. How am I the mom to a third grader?! I clearly remember third grade. That’s when important things like crushes and fixing my own hair began. How did this happen?!}
That chair is this chair. I’m still loving it. Loving it so hard. As comfortable as our sofa is, this chair gets all the action in the house. It’s holding up really well to our rowdy family. Once, Everett got black face paint {BLACK FACE PAINT!} on the arm but I got it out easily with a little dish soap, water and elbow grease. Like it never even happened. The seat cushion is showing some imperfection but that is just a sign of life in my opinion. Our bums are all over that chair!
So as I’m sitting there watching my boys read and listening to my thoughts for the first time all day {normally it’s way too loud for me to hear my own thoughts}, I hear myself thinking, “Those shelves are coming along. I really like them. I should share them on the blog. But they aren’t 100% done so maybe I should wait? I want to add more stuff and I’ll probably tweak them on a regular basis until the end of my days so I should wait until…until the end of my days? Wait, Dana. That makes no sense. Just share them. You’ve got to stop waiting until everything is d-o-n-e. Just share what’s going on right now.”
Yeah, I’m crazy. But I’m sharing!
{Layne realized I was taking his picture and moved to the sofa. Also, that curled corner of the sisal rug drives HH bonkers. He’s tried all sorts of as-seen-on-TV rug pads and nothing has worked. It doesn’t bother me. Just another sign of life. I find the HH vs. curled corner battle very entertaining.}
What speakers? I first mentioned the DIY shelves here. We bought the shelving bracket system at Lowe’s and added premium grade pine boards. Did y’all know that 1 x 12’s aren’t actually 1″ x 12″? Where have I been? The 1 x 12 boards are actually 3/4″ thick and 11 1/4″ deep. Whatever. We stained them with my favorite Minwax stain – special walnut – but we only did one coat. I wanted the shelves to look more natural and tie into the wood of The Chair and the reclaimed wood shelves across the way in the kitchen. We brushed on 2-3 coats of satin poly to seal them. I’m really happy with how they turned out. I know someone will ask…the shelves are spaced 16 1/2″ apart and are ~72″ long with the exception of the highest shelf which extends all the way to the front door. We need to add another support in the corner above the door and I think the negative space behind the door {when open} is begging for a full-length mirror.
Styling-wise the shelves aren’t done but they’re getting there. The majority of the items you see came from our attic: magazines, books, wood sculptures, some baskets/bins, A to Z bookends {spray painted gold – someone stop me}, pictures frames. I thought we had a ton of books but the large wall shelving installation really dwarfs our collection. We’ll just have to buy more books!
The bottom shelves are kid-friendly. Little hands are curious in this house. I found the four woven baskets at HomeGoods for $15-$17 each. I would have liked all of them in the larger size but they only had two in stock. We’ve started using them for library books since we have a hard time keeping them separate from our own. The next shelf holds our favorite books and magazines. The picture frame {with the red clearance sticker still on it} was also a HomeGoods find – $4.
The higher shelves are out of kid range and hold mostly decorative items. The black and white jug was a HomeGoods find – $14. This is sounding very much like a plug for HomeGoods but it’s not. Promise.
I’ve got to talk about the Buddha head for a minute. I was thinking the top shelf would be a good place to display a collection. One problem. We don’t really have any collections. Then I saw the ginormous Buddha head {at HomeGoods – $32} and now we are collecting Buddha heads. I know. I’m weird. The boys are totally into my weirdness. They are on the prowl for Buddha heads. Mabrey keeps pointing at the Buddha head saying, “BAY-bee. BAY-bee.” Pretty much everything is a baby to her at this stage. See the mini Buddha figurine just to the left of the Buddha head? Funny story. In college, that little Buddha was on HH’s desk in his room and became the object of a very fun game of hide-and-seek between HH’s friends and my friends. I found him in the attic. I can’t believe we still have him. Even though we aren’t practicing Buddhists, our budding Buddha collection is nostalgic. Strange, yes, but nostalgic. And you better believe we borrowed a book on Buddhism from the library today.
The two picture frames hold Layne and Everett’s infant foot imprints. The boys asked me which was which. The way I remember is that Everett’s footprint is bigger because he was our second baby. Layne was our first child and like the first-time mom I was, I captured his footprint right away because I had nothing better to do. I think Everett was close to six months old before I got around to doing his. Mabrey? Um, sixteen months and counting. I’m guessing we’ll need a bigger picture frame for hers.
When I started putting stuff up on the shelves, I searched online for inspiration. It turns out I like less stuff in real life than I do online. Or maybe more stuff feels cluttered to me because I’m used to nothing being there. Perhaps, over time, I will grow to like more stuff?
{Can you spot the long lost paper airplane on the top shelf?}
For now, I think this is a good start.
I especially like that it gives this view of the family room a library-ish feel. I love library days.
images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking
budget decor, DIY, family life, interior design, kid-friendly, organization