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Love Your Space Challenge #5: Style Your Bookcase

decorating tips· love your space

PicMonkey CollageWell hi there! What a day I had yesterday.  It started with a Core Barre Class (which was my first time and totally kicked my rear) and ended by completely redecorating our den.  So, needless to say, I am a little sore. 😉  We are finishing up our living spaces today with one more challenge. I have been getting some great feedback and can’t wait to get started on our sleeping spaces tomorrow.  If you have completed any of the previous challenges, I would love to hear about them and see pics of your pretty spaces on Up to Date’s Facebook page.  You can find all of the challenges in the links below if you have missed any of them.

Intro: Love Your Space

Week 1 Living Spaces

Challenge #1: Move a Piece of Furniture

Challenge #2: Hang Something New on Your Wall

Challenge #3: Style Your Coffee Table

Challenge #4: Add Fresh Air

Challenge #5: Style Your Bookcase

Week 2 Sleeping Spaces

Challenge #6: Change Your Textiles (bedding)

Challenge #7: Change Your Drawer Knobs

Challenge #8: Have Your Clothes Ready to Wear

Challenge #9: Dress Your Dresser

Challenge #10: Be Ready for Guests

Week 3 Eating Spaces

Challenge #11: Set Up a Tea/Coffee Station

Challenge #12: Spruce Up Your Seating

Challenge #13: Organize Your Pantry. Fast.

Challenge #14: Style Your Buffet/Sideboard

Challenge #15: Treat Your Kitchen Window

Week 4 Bathroom, Laundry room, and Office

Challenge #16: Make Your Bathroom Pretty

Challenge #17: Organize your Laundry Room

Challenge #18: Repurpose Something!

Challenge #19: Conquer Paper Clutter

Challenge #20:  Organize a Junk Drawer

Okay, let’s do this!!

Love Your Space Challenge #5

Style a Bookcase

Option 1:  The rule of thirds.  Remove everything off your shelves.  Evenly distribute 1/3 of books, 1/3 of pictures, and 1/3 of objects.  To brighten up the bookcase, use little paintings and prints instead of photos, and color code your books.  Make sure you leave enough negative space so all of your pretty things have a spotlight. Less is usually more!

Picnik collage5Erika Brechtel

Option 2:  Throw out the rules, go for a curated look! If you have a lot of lovely books, fill a few shelves with only books but add some “breathing room” with a few accessories on a couple of shelves or display pictures with command strips on the frame of the bookcase.

booksJamie House Design

Option 3:  Books aren’t your thing. Collect similar objects from around the house to display as a collection. Tip:  If you have a dark wood bookcase, try using white or lighter accessories and picture frames for a pretty contrast.

fall 13 2Dimples and Tangles

And one more pretty bookcase (and room) for your inspiration! 429c4b9cf0c84701f1fdf105451b28c1Jenna Burger Design

For more ideas on decorating with books, check out this post.

Book-display

My Outcome:  All week I have been making changes to our living room on the main floor.  Today (and for the first time ever in blogland) I am sharing our den with you.  In the past I have shown you the bookcase on the main floor…SONY DSCand now you get to see what goes on in our family room!
SONY DSCI organized the books by categories and then colors, keeping warm and cool tones separate.

SONY DSC SONY DSC

This project may take a little time but is worth the result.  Are you up for the challenge?

kathy-with-bird

This post is linked to Weekend Block Party!
Weekend Block Party Blog Linkup

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Comments

  2. Great post. I love to display a bunch of ecclectic things in my house and this is a perfect pretty way to do it. I love that little mirrow you have behind the white vase.

    Reply

    • Thanks Melanie! Did you check out the link for ideas decorating with books? There are some non-bookcase ideas in that post!

      Reply

  4. I love the splashes of yellow/orange in your family room. A color I did not like for years but recently has really been an attraction for me. I have used burgundy, dark green and a royal blue. I’m ready for a change. Thanks for the inspiration.
    Dawn
    SGBC

    Reply

    • Thanks Dawn! I have mostly cool colors through the house but I fell in love with those floral pillows when I saw them 5 years ago. I do love jewel tones!

      Reply

  5. Thanks for sharing the inspiration and photos of your living space! I’ve been trying to think of new ways to add more “pretty” and personality pieces to my living space and I found just what I was looking for here.

    Great challenge! I’m going to be looking back to this and pinning for reference 🙂

    Reply

  11. I love the shells in your bookcase! I pinned this to review later, but I have had “organize bookshelf” on my list for months. I need to finally take the plunge!

    Reply

  13. I love this. I have been itching for a new bookcase, but I’m not sure how it would work with my little one running around knocking everything over. Maybe one for the bedroom!? Thank you for linking up with the Weekend Block Party. I hope you’ll join us again this week!

    Reply

    • Thanks for the sweet comment Sarah! I always put our valuable items on the top shelves and when the kids were really young we used the bottom two shelves for toy and children’s book storage with baskets that hid the clutter.

      Reply

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