Living Room Shelves

Hi there!  I hope you had a nice weekend... it's hard to believe it's almost over.  

We have a large wall in our living room that I've never known exactly what to do with.  With our recent living room updates, I've been trying to do a little "freshening" in the room.  Recently it dawned on me that some shelves might provide a nice contrast and also be an inexpensive way to add some interest. 

 After suggesting the idea to my husband, he so sweetly agreed (let me tell you, I am thankful to have such a handy husband that doesn't mind all my crazy ideas) and a trip to Lowe's we made.  We picked up four of these wooden shelf support brackets (two for each shelf).

 And we also bought two 48" pine stair treads to use for the actual shelves.  Once we brought them home, I primed them and then painted two coats of Titanium by Benjamin Moore, which is my all time favorite gray. Then Justus screwed them into the wall studs.  Once he finished, I filled in and painted the screw holes.  It was such a simple project.  Overall, for two shelves, the cost was about $50 (not including the paint and primer, but I already had both on hand). 

 I love how they turned out and how they look on the bare wall but I did struggle for over a week with what to display on the shelves!  I wanted a neutral look but the vignette also needed to stand out from the wall.  In the end, this is what I came up with, although I make no promises that it will not change in the future (smile).  

   This weekend Justus finished all the trim work in the living room, so now I just need to paint it ... and dare I say... we will be finished!  (Please tell me that you too have projects that end up taking you 4 months to complete!)  

Do you see the stained corner trim in the above picture?  The previous owners had painted the corner trim white.  Once we raised the ceiling, the trim needed to be replaced anyway, so we opted to stain the new trim to match the walls.  It's a change somebody else probably would not notice, but we love how it creates a more cohesive look.  (Soon I'll tell you about the stain we used... it was amazing!) 

 The natural wood bead board walls in our living room are original and when I first walked into this room, my first thought was paint... but since then, I've not only came to respect the history of the walls, but love them.  Somehow over the span of eighty years, they were never painted and still remain in superb condition. So even though decorating has been a struggle for me in this room and wood in its natural state may not be popular, I just can't bear to change their originality.  I've grown to love how the sun gives the wood a golden hue when it goes down in the evening and how the smell of wood becomes strong when it rains.  

I guess you could say it just feels like home. 

P.S.  Look what Justus found in the garden today!