Rustic Book Shelf

I am in love with all things old and Rustic, (is it obvious with the title of my blog and business?).  When I see something that has a story to tell, my imagination goes wild!  I want to have a conversation with it.   "What stories could you share?  Where have you lived?  What places have you seen?" 

New is not always better! 

We have this awkward alcove high in the wall in our dinning area.  It has been many things since we moved here.  A place to display home decor, a catch all for keys and random stuff, you name it, it has been it!  It was awful!  Such an eye sore.  I wanted to turn this space into a usable storage area that is not only functional but architecturally appealing.  The idea of making it a book shelf was the plan.  Our family loves books but had no place to store them. 

My brain started ticking...what's free and old looking?  Wood pallets. 

It took me awhile to round some up to take apart.  After they were disassembled and all the nails were removed I started cutting and screwing them into the wall.

They don't need to be perfect!  That is the joy of wanting the old and rustic look.

I went to Rod Works and found these beautiful iron brackets.  You want to make sure they are drilled into the stud so it will hold the weight of the book shelf.

Accessories are just as important to bring the entire look together.  Every book case needs a wise old owl to stand guard! 

I LOVE milk glass!  My favorite is this Hobnail Milk Glass by Fenton.  Oh the stories this piece could share!  Beautiful. 

Love the way it turned out.  Hope I helped inspire you.

Closet Office Wall Stencil

Yesterday couldn't have gone better!  Thank you so much for the kind words and for all the Facebook posts, adding me to your blog rolls, and for all the words of encouragement!  I even have a few jobs already lined up that will keep me busy for the next few weeks.  Can't wait to share those with you soon.

Who is in love with wall stencils?  Or like me thinks they would be?!?  They look fantastic! The look of wall paper but not all the mess of the glue...sign me up! Also if you are like me, I like to change things too often and the commitment of wall paper scares me.  I have a feeling I would prefer these  



Royal Design Studio

Royal Design Studio



Royal Design Studio


Today rather than finishing up my diy tutorial on these adorable ruffle curtains for you all I decided to de-clutter!   I went through the toys in the playroom and started bagging them up to give to my local D.I. and Goodwill (yes I like to take some to both, share the love I guess!)  Of course I did this while the girls were sleeping as to avoid as much crying over losing their "favorite" toy (that they haven't played with in years!).  I have decided to transform the closet of my girl's play room into my "office". We have had multiple places in our home for our computer and none have felt natural so hopefully my closet office will!  

I knew I didn't want it to feel like a bare closet so I went to my paint shelf and found a can of paint I bought from the defect section of the hardware store. It cost me $1 for a quart. Anything for $1 is a deal!  Check out that section every time you make a trip, you never know what you will find.  The paint I used is a beautiful rich grey color.  After I painted I wanted to try a stencil, only problem I didn't have one. So...  

I made one.  I remember seeing this done before here and it looked cute.  It by no means is perfect, but I think it looks ok.  What do you think?  If I wasn't so impatient maybe I would have ordered one.  Next time for sure!  
 

Definitely I would invest in a stencil to do a larger wall.  I think the payoff will be nicer.  Have you used stencils?  How did you like the finish product? 

Now I just need to figure out where all this is going to go.  Wish me luck!