Before

I am nearing the 75% mark of my time off from work.  I have accomplished exactly nothing.  I had high hopes of getting started on our new ‘built-in" shelves and cabinets in the living room but, alas,  it just isn’t meant to be. 

This is the before shot and I’m hoping by posting here, publicly, that it will shame me into getting started on it. 

So let me explain.  I own two bookcases that until now, because of their knotty pineness, have lived out in the garage where they held assorted B-list cookbooks (the ones not quite in favor at the moment), decorating books, old school books and the like.  Oh, and lots of cds.   

I also have, courtesy of a husband in the kitchen design field, a rejected cabinet with two shelves, three doors and three drawers.  I also have four bun feet.   Gosh I love those picky customers that insist that a ding here or there necessitates the ordering of new cabinetry.  Guess who gets the rejects?

I feel like I need to back up a little bit.  Our house has a large living room, a separate dining room, a big kitchen with an equally big eating area, three bedrooms, three baths – but no family room.   The living room is actually called a ‘great room’ and is a good size (about 20×30 feet I think). 

Here’s a crappy picture so you get the idea.  Disclaimer:  The place is still in a disarray due do the flooring in front of the sliding glass door on the left being replaced.  Normally you wouldn’t see the vacuum cleaner, pictures leaning up against walls and towels draped everywhere:

There are two seating areas; one in front of the large picture windows.  It consists of a large couch that faces the window, two bergere chairs and some tables.  The other seating area is by the fireplace and it consists of two identical loveseats that face each other and a coffee table.  It’s very cozy. 

Here’s a picture taken looking the opposite direction.  Again, nothing is in place because of the flooring project.

Normally I don’t care for televisions in the living room but we don’t have a lot of options.   At the moment the television is housed in that 80’s oak monstrosity you see in the first picture (I really shouldn’t be so disparaging – just as soon as I hit post someone is going to email me and tell me they have the exact same entertainment unit).  We bought that  unit in 1988 and it has served us well.  It just doesn’t go exactly. 

I’ve toyed with the idea of painting it white but when the free cabinet showed up in my life a new plan was hatched.  Rick is going to put the bun feet on the cabinet and I’m going to paint it, and the two bookcases my favorite creamy white.  The three pieces will butt right up to each other and, hopefully, the end result will look more cohesive and sort of built-in. 

This is kind of the look I am going for (only in white):

This is from Pottery Barn.  And I realize my bookcases don’t have drawers and my cabinet will be a bit higher and have feet but I’m hoping the overall feel is the same.

Stay tuned.  Let’s see if I can get it done before Thanksgiving.