Bedroom Built-Ins

We are officially unpacked, and it's such a wonderful feeling! We were down to about six boxes full of books that were awaiting a set of built-in shelves in our bedroom. I wasn't about to DIY this one, so a friend of a friend took on the project and did a beautiful job. Read on for more pics -- including a little before and after.

The renovated bedroom included this unique cut-out directly opposite the stairs into the room. Based on the placement of plugs and a couple of built in reading lights, I'm guessing this cut-out was designed for the bed. For us, it wasn't ideal since we wouldn't have room for bedside tables and there wasn't an obvious place for the TV where we'd both be able to see it. It also seemed like the whole room would just be a bed -- front and center. I guess it is a bedroom, but still. After devising a solution for the bed with all the angles in this room, we thought this spot would be perfect for built-ins.

Our friend Blake did a beautiful job of building two nice substantial shelves that feature a beautiful wood grain to complement some of the other wood in the space -- like the ceiling beams.

As pretty as they are, I can't say I was thrilled about styling them. Styling shelves is basically the hardest. I find most of the inspiration for shelf styling frustrating. I don't own a gorgeous collection of first edition hard backs. I refuse to color code them, and Michael immediately vetoed my attempt to place all their spines in, which I guess is reasonable. So I made my best attempt to make them look effortless. Let me tell you, effortless is damn hard. Styling to make them look unstyled...I guess. Sort of stupid when I type it all out. But that's who I am.

What are you thoughts on styled shelves? Do you find it difficult? Do you think I nailed it? ...or nailed it?