Media Cabinet Makeover {Bookshelf Styling}

Hi all!  Hope you had a great Monday!  Over the weekend, I spent some time rearranging the media cabinet in our living room.  I was getting bored with how the bookshelves were styled, thinking it had too few books and needed more color.  I've gotten asked before about where we purchased the cabinet, but it's actually a built-in unit. You may remember how it's looked for the last year.  I painted the back Jamestown Blue by Sherwin Williams when we first moved in.

The blue in the first picture isn't a good representation, but rather a result of poor camera settings. But it's not actually as dark as the photo below either:)  

Anyways, I think you get the idea about what the shelves looked like.  So after shopping our house for more books (brining some cookbooks out of the kitchen and into the living room- a previous faux pas for me) and buying ten used hardcover books at Half-Priced Books for just $1 each, I had much more visual interest.  I also ditched the paper covers and went solely with the books themselves.

One of the biggest differences is that I took out the shelves at the very top that were relatively empty, and filled them with books.  I also added a couple of decorative vases and boxes (already owned from Home Goods).  I like keeping the photos in the shelves because seeing them just makes me happy.  Here's a closer peek.



In keeping our bookshelves practical, the Pottery Barn clock counts down to nap and bedtime, and the kleenex are essential for a baby's constant runny nose.

My favorite row of books is below.  I love the colors and two of my favorite books (Interior Wisdom and Food to Flowers) are housed there.  The Christmas book is awesome too, and I was surprised to find such a pretty patterned book (the brown links) when I took the cover off of Nate Berkus Home Rules.

And all again at a glance.  

Better, huh?