Craigslist Bookcase Score

We were in desperate need of bookcases to house both our own books and the many books in our Etsy shop.

I eventually plan to move my office/studio from the closet-sized 3rd bedroom of our little "split level" cottage into the medium-sized bedroom that belonged to our oldest daughter. The problem is, when she moved out, she left 20+ years of her childhood behind (you know, the stuff she doesn't want to move from apartment to apartment, but the stuff she can't bear to part with!)! And until I can get her back home for several days (weeks! months!) to go through everything, I'm in a state of limbo.

The only possible place to put bookcases until I move into the larger bedroom is along the wall in this small stretch of hallway. It will be tight, but it's temporary ("Famous last words," as my mother used to say.)

Saturday night I went on Craigslist to see what I could find and I scored BIG time!!! I made arrangements with the seller to pick up the bookcases on Sunday. So for the grand total of $30, I got not one, not two, not three.... but seven of these white bookcases!!! I kept five for myself (the other 2 are downstairs) and I gave two to my sister. We spent Sunday afternoon cleaning them (they were pretty grungy, but they sure cleaned up nice!).

 This afternoon was spent sorting through books and trying to arrange them in an order that will make them easy to find. I've always loved the look of an entire wall of bookshelves (although not necessarily in a narrow hallway!). I was also able to play around with the clock shelves a bit (they had been holding books before as well).

Of course this morning, before I started loading books onto the shelves, Miss Baby (the proverbial Literary Cat) made herself at home.

It's amazing how cats must investigate and take ownership of anything new
that comes into the house. 

(In a cat's eyes, all things belong to cats. English proverb)

 It's not an option to a cat. It's mandatory.

Sorry, Baby. Time to move. Mommy's got work to do. Maybe I'll leave a bottom shelf open for you to hang out in.

So loads...

and loads...

and loads...

.. and loads later, I'd made a pretty good dent in it.

I still have another bin or two of books to go through, so you can guess what I'll be up to tomorrow as well!

This week I'm going to be joining Brenda at Cozy Little House for her very first "Tweak It Tuesday" party and Cindy at My Romantic Home for Show & Tell Friday!

Have a great week, everyone!

Donna

Organization is the key!

Oh my gosh, it feels so good to be organized!! I'd love to have a room completely lined with floor-to-ceiling bookcases. Not only do I love the look of bookcases, but I have so many more books than this (not to mention all of my girls' childhood books), so I'd have no trouble filling them up!


(click on any photos to enlarge)

I love having the bookcases pushed together on this wall (why did it take me so long to do this?)... And although I hated having the TV and/or treadmill sitting in front of the bookcases (this post), I think the chair looks right at home in front of them... A cozy little place to sit and read (recognize the free reading lamp I found this summer? Perfect for this spot!)...


I used to be so embarrassed by these cluttered, messy bookcases (previous post), but not anymore...


Oh, I know, they're probably still too "packed" with books and such, and there's probably some perfect "book-to-knickknack-to-basket-to-dead space" ratio that I'm way out of whack with, but they're so much more organized than before!!!


(It wouldn't be fair if I didn't let you in on a little secret though... the wing chair is conveniently hiding the shelves that still need some organizing... so don't look behind it!!)



But the rest of the shelves got tidied up... I've started organizing old photos in storage boxes, and I picked up these great woven baskets at Home Goods. That place never lets me down - I take my measurements with me when I go and I always find exactly what I'm looking for! (Remember the vintage chenille scatter rug storage baskets I got there that looked like they were custom made for what I had in mind?)

I also did a little shopping for the top of the bookcases at Home Goods... I fell in love with these garden rabbit statues. I'm really trying to incorporate a year-round "garden room" feel for our family room, so these were perfect! I must have put them in my basket (and taken them out) about 3 times... My daughter, who was with me that night, said, "Mom, you're really going to be sorry if you don't get them." I'm so glad she gave me the nudge I needed because I really do love them! I already had everything else... it was just a matter of pulling things from different places and then arranging it all. (The little resin fox in the birdcage might go back to the garden come spring, but he likes being inside for the winter!)

The tall bunny sits on an old copy of The Wizard of Oz that was mine from childhood. (As a child, I was apparently quite worried about losing all of my books because I wrote my name in about five different places in each one!)

In keeping with the garden theme, a little birch tree birdhouse sits between books and little stone birds...

My bluebird music box and Mellen Infant Formula bottle (thrift finds I posted about over the summer) are on another shelf...

And here's another little garden bird statue, as well as a closeup of the beautiful woven baskets...

I also spotted this little "bookend Scotty Dog" at Home Goods and, since I was picking out a few things for my bookcases, he came home with me as well...

I like this view toward the sliders so much more than this..... What took me so long to rearrange this room???

(P.S. We had a beautiful New England snowstorm today... I'll share some photos tomorrow!)

Donna

The Traveling Bookcases

We've had these bookcases for a long time and over the years they've done some traveling...

The 1990's

Back in the 90's the bookcases made their home in the living room (they were actually quite organized back then!). I love our current cottage look, but I still have such a fondness for primitive decor. It's amazing how different the living room looks now considering the fact that we're still using the same sofa, wing chair, rocker, curtains, shutters, birdhouse church, and apothecary chest that appear in this photo!

Summer 2007

The bookcases were moved into the family room roughly 8 years ago (I am so symmetrical that I couldn't envision them anywhere but flanking the sliding glass door, which was a disaster for TV and treadmill placement.) And the bookcases, no longer organized, had also exploded into a disorganized, cluttered mess by 2007!

October 2008

This is where the bookcases ended up. I really wasn't sure if I was going to like them pushed together on one wall, but I was willing to give it a try... Before they were moved, I got serious about donating some old books and also got rid of a lot of clutter from the shelves... However, they were far from finished when I took this picture back in October.

I'm happy to say that I've grown to love their new location as well as the 'flow' of the family room. And I'm doubly happy to say that the bookcases are finally organized!! I'll share pictures of the finished project in my next post.

Donna