Monday, October 22, 2012

Fabric Lined Expedit Bookshelf


Good morning friends!  If you've been following me on Instagram (@honeywerehome), you know I started a new job last week, so by the time you're reading this I'm probably knee deep in legal motions and trying very hard to look like I'm not still nervous:)  





Your input last Friday on what color to paint my home office was very helpful- thank you for weighing in!  The choice was between gray and white and the overwhelming majority of you voted gray, aptly pointing out that my white furniture (desk and bookshelf) would "pop" against a darker color.  I completely agreed with that, but decided to do the inverse- paint the walls white and add dark drapes and a dark color behind the bookshelf to make them stand out.  





For the paint, I used Sherwin Williams Divine White- the color I had left over from when our house was originally painted 2 1/2 years ago.  All of our trim, cabinets, and ceilings are Divine White flat.  My painter didn't prime the office walls, he simply painted one coat over the previous light yellow, so the color may be slightly warmer than if he had primed first.  Divine White isn't stark white anyway, it's more "soft white."  I must say that I'm loving the bright, clean look of the white!





Regarding the bookshelf, I briefly considered painting just the large wall behind the bookshelf dark, but am not usually a big fan of accent walls.  So, wanting the easiest, cheapest, and quickest solution, I simply taped a Twin Flat black sheet to the back of the bookshelf.  It literally took 5 minutes. 
















The 5-tier Ikea Expedit measures 72x72 inches at the outer edges, and the Target Twin Flat sheet I got measured 68x96 inches.  I knew it would be just a few inches too short, but figured the contents inside the shelf would cover that part if it was on the bottom.  









I just cut the excess off of the long side.  









Below you can see where the sheet is just shy of covering the entire bookshelf.  









I tried to tape the sheet taught so that it wouldn't buckle. 









Of course, you could use any patterned sheet or color that fits with your decor and change it out when the mood strikes. 









Voila!  It reminds me of our painted kitchen cabinets















If you wanted to cover the Expedit completely and not have those couple inches showing, you could easily use the excess you cut off and sew it to the bottom or just buy a larger sheet.  










You can also see that I moved the cowhide rug up here - musical rugs and musical lamps is one of my favorite games:)  Yours too?





Make it a great week friends!





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Today on Honey We're Healthy, I'm talking about time management and the daily routines I use to make the most of the hours in the day.  People ask about this a lot, so if you're interested, head on over! 













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