Happy Livingroom

Previously I hinted that I would be showing you something to do with an Ikea Billy bookcase.  I'm afraid to disappoint you if you thought I was going to "re-vamp" one with paint or something but I think you will be pleased with me all the same.

It has been said that "Cleanliness is next to godliness." This I am inclined to agree with, as it seems a house of order and cleanliness is also a house of peace and tranquility.  Besides it's so much more inviting right?  Here is my case in point:

Enter my livingroom, since we've moved back to my father-in-law's basement apartment, it has managed to look and function more like a storage unit than a functioning reception and lounge area.  We have slowly sorted and thrown out a good deal of things, and continue to go through the stuff we still have boxed.  However I decided that I needed to have a livingroom.  Especially since we had guests coming this last Saturday and well there just wasn't enough room to sit four comfortably in that room.  So on with my quest.

I purchased a Billy bookshelf from Ikea that matched the one we already had, but at half of the width so as to fit between my husband's sub woofer in the corner and the window on the other side.

Now those of you that know me, also know that I collect books and love to read.  So In addition to the small library shown originally on the bookshelves, I also had several boxes of books on the floor.  Needless to say I felt they deserved a home too. 

(sorry for the bad lighting and blurriness)

Here is what we have after sorting and arranging the books alphabetically by author, yes, by author. (I feel it relevant because I have several books by the same author and it would be silly to organize them by title if I know that they were all written by the same person...simple logic, but I digress.....yes I know I am a bit OCD when it comes to my books).  It is also important to note that my library is always in a state of flux, we still have one box to sort through and I have about four stacks of books 1.5' high next to my night stand.  Books that I wasn't sure whether to keep or donate, so I will read them to help me decide.

Here is the teak bookcase that you saw in the original photos, all cleaned, sorted and redressed, in a much more pleasing manner.  I also reorganized, our photo albums, magazines and family history research, so that it is most easily grabbed when we want it.  I am especially proud of the second shelf of the book case, which I discovered was a bit too short to accommodate most books, so I spray painted some baskets I had, that were just collecting dust, and turned them into easily accessible bins for my Etsy store stuff.  Over all it just feels nicer, and I find it more pleasant to sew in there now.

I hope that your week is proving to be as unusually productive as mine has been. ☺

~Fraise