It's A Wannabe Decorator's Life: May 2013

The living room has been one of my favorite transformations other than the kitchen. When we first looked at this house I can remember thinking "That is the first thing I'm changing!" This room needed some gorgeous built ins! One of the things that sold us on this house was all of the woodwork. The crown molding, the windows framed out and the thick base boards. So, when the walls on either side of the fireplace were finished out with dry wall shelving, I was a little confused. To me it screamed Fred Flinstone or adobe style. So, away to Pinterest I flew for inspiration. I found it at a blog called Forever Cottage. Her built ins inspired me so much. We tweaked it here and there and couldn't be prouder of them!

~ Before ~

We ended up taking the mantle down. That was a hard decision for me. I love mantels!! I mean, how are we going to hang our stockings at Christmas? In the end, the husband "needed" the flat screen over the fireplace. I do love it there. But, in order for us to watch it from the couch we had to lower it, which meant loose the mantel. So, away it went.

I started to collect globes. I had a rule that I wouldn't spend more than $25 for a one. Pricing on globes are so random to me. You can go to a garage sale and find a vintage globe for $5. Then, go to an antique mall and find the very same globe for $125!! That's just crazy!

My hutch from my old dining room fits just perfectly in this spot.

Most everything in the built ins I had. My goal was to get some very old cool looking books. I wouldn't spend more than $5 on a book when I went to antique places. On average I would spend $2.50 There were some I drooled over but I just couldn't justify $35 on a book. No way!