Tuesday, May 21, 2013

DIY Decorating: Changing the Fabric in my Bookshelves

We are in the process of many home improvement projects. With twins on the way, we need order and peace in this house of boys. Easier said than done....but you have to start somewhere- so I started by changing my loud fabric on the back of my shelves in the great room.

Here is the new look:




 I put chevron fabric up over 2 years ago. You can see a post about it here. After about 2 1/2 years of staring at so much chevron, it had to go. Personally, I'm getting a little tired of seeing chevron print on everything! It is like- I liked it a lot-- until I saw it everywhere. Now I'm sort of done with it. I had to go for something a little calmer, and brighter. Here is the before:
 The room had a lot of red. About a year ago, I retired my red curtains, for something lighter- which I made....I'll share my curtain story in another post.
 Since this photo was taken- about two years ago- I have also changed my pillow covers, and lamp shades a few times. I liked the bright colors, but it is busy- there is a lot going on in this room. It is a huge room, with the basic tan walls- so added color was nice.

Here are the shelves today:
  I think the shelves feel so much better and lighter! When I changed the curtains- last year- it totally lightened the room and made it feel larger. Now with the fabric change on the shelves, it feels even lighter- not so busy and heavy.

Here is a little of the room after from the same angle as the room photo from before:
 So what do you think? The lighting is different-- in the before photos I used a flash, and in the after photos I used natural light. Here they are side by side:

BIG difference for a very small amount of money. Of course it isn't perfect, and I am constantly changing it....but it feels much more calm now, and calm is what I needed.
I'll share my DIY curtains later. So... if you had this room, what kind of area rug would you do? Solid? Printed? Colored?? Please share! I'd also like to paint the walls a lighter color-more in the grayish family....but there is a lot of walls with this color- so that project may be a few years away...paint color suggestions are welcome too!

Thanks for reading!!


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4 comments:

Niki said...

Very pretty and classy! As for a rug, that sort of thing always stumps me. When in doubt, I say go with a subtle print.

Jen said...

Love the more subdued look! But if I were to pick a rug, it would be a pop of solid color, like some more of the blue. I love the way neutral looks with a little color. So peaceful!

Sarah M said...

I'd have to agree with Jennifer on the rug. I think you already have a lot of fun prints going on. One nice solid color to tie it all together and complete the room, is what I'd do. :)

Tiffany said...

Love the changes! Good job!