Old to New

One of the easier home projects I've been working on, besides all of the painting, is this hallway bookcase for our upper level hall. (to the right is our bedroom and the bathroom; to the left is what is going to be the nursery, and straight back...the room with the door open...is my office. The boys' bedroom is down in the basement...they have their own little apartment down there complete with bathroom).

Anyways, I took this old, cheap, white bookcase from walmart (which I bought 7 years ago) and decided to beef it up a little and make it pretty.

I tore off the back board (because the air vent is back there...I swear they put those in the worst places!) and then turned it around because the back side of the shelves were more flush with the actual bookcase so it would make it easier to add the trim around the edges. I nailed the shelves into place to make it studier and then added the trim for about $6 (I still have some left over but I needed two different sizes.) I filled the holes with spackle and then sanded and primed it. Then I spray painted it a lavender purple. It is not completely finished though. I am looking for a very specific type of wrapping paper to mod podge onto the actual shelves. It needs to be purple, yellow and gray maybe with swirls or modern flowers. I have the image in my head but so far I haven't found what I am looking for. I guess I still have to consider it a work in progress. So, here it is for now and I love it!! The lamp, that you can't really see, is this lamp...but the bigger one that sells for $16.

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I'm thinking of replacing it with a taller lamp because this one was originally bought to go on our table behind the couch in the living room. I think it might look a little better too if it was taller and had color. Obviously the wall is higher so I am planning on getting this to hang right behind it.

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The house is finally starting to come together and I am so amazed what I can do on a very tight budget and by reusing things I already have and making my own art. It's a fun process and I'm so glad that I get to be creative! Shawn even loves it!