Bookcase Work Continues

Journey of a Bookcase - Part Deux

One of the items on my Ten Tasks for Ten Days (otherwise known as the kick in the rear patoot challenge from Gina over at the Shabby Chic Cottage), was to finally finish my bookcases in the living room.  In Part One you were able to see the shelves in complete disarray (horrible sight!)  That was almost two months ago. As you can see, I'm not one to rush into things.


I finally took everything off the shelves and started the painting. As soon as I'm through with this post I'll finish the back of the shelves.  The shelves themselves are completely painted. Doing a task randomly is the hallmark of a person with ADD.  But guess what? It gets done, and that's all that matters.

A Note on the Bookcase:

I'm a huge fan of standards and brackets. This wall in the living room was completely useless.  The hall is directly to the right which meant you couldn't put any furniture there unless you wanted to climb over a chair to get into the living room. So up went 8" deep shelves on standards and brackets. I talked my hubby into slamming up end pieces to enclose them and he added crown molding on the top. Voila - shelves that look built in.

I clamped two inexpensive lamps (I think they were $5.00 on sale at Wally World) on the crown molding for spot lights.

 

 

Arrrrrgh!  Big pile of books in middle of room.

 

One thing that has made the painting less than fun is the wood stove.  It's right next to shelves and my hubby has been starting fires early in the morning.  I'm trying to tell myself I'm really in an expensive spa having a steam bath. So far it's not working!

 

Next I get to do the fun part of arranging the books.  A reward for sure!!


Arranging Bookshelves Info:

• Tips for arranging bookshelves using the "Zig Zag" formula 
• Design Dilemma: Arranging Bookshelves

If you didn't sign up for the last challenge at  The Shabby Chic Cottage, Gina will be starting a new challenge soon.  It probably won't be quite so, well, challenging!

Ten Tasks/Ten Day Challenge

Update on The Shabby Chic Cottage Challenge:

I think today is day five, but don't bet the house on that...

1. clean back deck
2. stain back deck
3. hang new picture
4. clean and paint architectural thingy that's been in the barn for three years
   
5. recover the chairs in our bedroom
6. plant my 250 bulbs in the garden
7. finish painting my flowers for Christmas ornaments
8. finish three Etsy projects
9. finish painting bookshelves
   
10. Do at least one art journal page
11. Hang picture
12. Paint architectural thingy and hang (cleaned and oiled instead of painted)
    

One of the things that should have been added to my list was to hang my picture and paint my architectural thingy. After hanging the picture and cleaning the thingy, which appears to be the back off a buffet or dresser, we (hubby helped) decided to not paint it.  Someone left it in my barn for storage at least 6 years ago and then they vanished into the ether. I guess that makes it mine. Don't you?

as always - click on pictures to enlarge

After hanging the picture, the area to the left looked very, very blank. Off I went to the barn to do a bit of "shopping."  I found an old Home Interior shelf and headed to the bedroom to retrieve a vase that I've had for a gazillion years and dearly love.  The vase needed something in it so I wacked a few branches off one of my trees. That will do until I find something more permanent.

 

The crucifix on the right is a Capodimonte imported from Italy. I also purchased one for our church  kitchen and classroom area that didn't have one.

 

Next hubby and I slapped the stain on the back deck. It has gotten super cold very early this year and I'm hoping a slight warm up next week will allow me to stain the front deck before the snow flies.

 

This time we used a roller instead of a brush and it was waaaaaaaaaaaay easier than a brush.  He back brushed with a broom while I slopped the roller around. It only took 1 1/2 hours, which included removing the furniture. I had already taken off the potted plants several days earlier when I cleaned the wood.

 

Be sure and check out how Gina at Shabby Chic Cottage is doing on her challenge. PLUS, she has a gazillion great folks participating in Transformation Thursday. 

Ten for Ten

Gina over at the Shabby Chic Cottage has a fun thing going on - Ten Tasks in Ten Days.  

Gina says:

Do you suffer from Decorating ADD? Well I have a challenge for you! I am going to attempt to complete ten projects in the next ten days. read the rest

I hoped on that little bandwagon since I really do have ADD and accountability helps.  It's Monday and I haven't finished my "brain drain" for this week but I'm going to try and muddle through a list anyway. The good news is I've already completed several things on my list today.

1. clean back deck
2. stain back deck
3. hang new picture
4. clean and paint architectural thingy that's been in the barn for three years
   
5. recover the chairs in our bedroom
6. plant my 250 bulbs in the garden
7. finish painting my flowers for Christmas ornaments
8. finish three Etsy projects
9. finish painting bookshelves
   
10. Do at least one art journal page

I know after really looking at my schedule tomorrow and mapping this all out, I may have to jettison a few of those projects.  But, maybe not!

Post your list, head  over to Gina's and leave a comment so people can bug you and keep you accountable.  And take a look at her post today on chalk board paint. Clever!!! 

Coming up: We're going to make meatballs. I made about 10 lbs of meatballs today and took some photos. 


PS - I sit in the corner, cry, and twirl my hair while sucking my thumb if people don't leave comments....just sayin'   ;-)