Custom Built In Bookshelves Revealed!!

It's time for our custom built in bookshelf reveal!!  The biggest challenge of moving from a vintage home with lots of character to a new build is that I'm always looking for ways to add in character and charm.  Our family room feels so much cozier and the room feels more balanced thanks to these built in bookshelves.  We talked about this project for months.  I did the planning and designing of what I wanted and my Dad did all the building, measuring, executing and installing.  My job was definitely easier, but we make a good team :)

We had some building meetings :)  If you find yourself in a new build - reach out to your builder and ask paint colors.  We wanted our shelves to be the same color as our trim.  All whites are not created equal.

And then Dad got started right away.  He worked fast!  Although I'm guessing the building process felt much faster to me than to him.  My mom and dad sent us updates :)

Ouch!  A few injuries along the way.  And lots of progress!

Our Family Room BEFORE:

This is what our family room look like at our walk thru before closing.  It's a big, bright room that could use some character. 

Family room AFTER: 

Hello, cozy character!!  We're SO happy with how they turned out.  I asked for timeless double book shelves on each side of the fire place.  Open shelving all the way down.  We have tons of closet storage so I wanted this to all be open storage.  Then I added on the built in bench seating on both sides once the project got rolling on both sides to add in a little extra storage and seating for the kids.  I knew there wouldn't be room for a chair on each side so a built in bench seemed like great use of the space.  I really love having one of a kind pieces in our home.

Look at that cute bench seat!

Dad made the shelves adjustable so we will likely move them around a bit once I collect a few taller things for the shelves.  I added in some plants, some pretty baskets and containers and are filling shelves with books and treasures that we love.

A close up for the bench seating.  I'd love to have some bench cushions made at some point.

The bottom shelves are all very kid friendly - baskets for toys, stacks of library books and things they can easily access.  Then the books, frames and holiday decor will go on the upper shelves.

Great work, Dad!!  I'm so happy to have these bookshelves built by you.  We had always hoped to do some built ins bookshelves at our last house, but we didn't live there long enough to make that happen.  I think Dad would agree that this project was much easier now that we live 20 minutes away.

He humored me and signed the shelves for me.  Everything is attached to the wall, but it makes me happy to know his signature is there.  He's already moved on to his next project and we've always got ideas for new projects when he can fit us into his calendar.

This is the hardware I selected for the drawers.  They'll be installed soon!

I'm thrilled to have this big project done!