Switching It Up

Been a while since I posted anything to do with the house (ya'll were relieved, right?) so I thought I'd check in with a couple of things I've switched around in the past couple of months.

Remember these?

These two book cases once lived in Libby's room. Paw-Paw Joe built them a million years ago and gave them to Sis2 and me back when we were in high school. When Sis2 got hitched in 2005, Goofus's house (at the time) was fully furnished so she got rid of almost everything she owned...including her book case which came to live with me and it's mate  at the lake house.

Now, I know this has nothing to do with me swapping around furniture but here's a little tip from me to you--Never marry a man who can't make room in his house for the book case your grandpa made a million years ago. It says a lot about how he REALLY feels about you. Which--don't get me wrong--I know Goofus loves my sister BUT...well, he couldn't part with any of HIS stuff to make room in his house for her stuff. If I ever read a romance novel hero like that I'd toss that book at the wall.

But there I go, passing judgment. So never mind me. Moving along...

Anyway, needless to say these two book cases hold a lot of sentimental value for me. I recall exactly where they used to live in Paw-Paw and Granny's house for centuries AND they're a testament to his craftsmanship. Bonus: They're lovely.

So, back in June (that was like, what yesterday?) when I was off for staycation I decided to implement phase one of Libby's room's make-over: Move out book cases. Where did they go?

Here:

I moved the short chest from the dining room to sit in between them because while they are almost identical, they're not exactly identical. One doesn't have the "lip" on the shelves and their shelves don't have the same spacing. See if this  helps...

I know, it's still a little dark to really tell, but if you click on the pic to enlarge it you might get a better idea.

Anyway, so, they really looked great to me but because they are so dark they really suck a lot of light out of the room. That light sucking thing kind of defeats the purpose of my having painted all that wood paneling. But I can't bear the thought of painting the book cases because sentimentality demands preserving them the way Paw-Paw Joe made them. I briefly flirted with the idea of just painting the back behind the books but couldn't bring myself to do that either.

My solution? Kinda redneckish but...I taped some white card stock to the visible portion of the back behind the books. Instant lightener. Eventually I may replace this with contact paper or *gasp* whit paint but for not it serves the purpose and gives me an idea of what a white back looks like.

I also changed the knobs on the little chest. See?

My next step will be to re-stain the little chest to match the book cases. OR possibly paint it white to add another layer of bright over there. I haven't decided yet. Sis2 (who used to own the chest) votes for stain. I'm sort of leaning towards paint just because I think it'll be easier. Also, I've never stained anything, so there's the "I don't know how to do this" factor. Which might be a good reason TO stain. *shrugs*

Fun fact: The tall chest in my bedroom ALSO came from Sis2 when she married. I inherited three large pieces of furniture from her marriage and countless smaller items. But, I also own four pieces of furniture that Sis1 cast off when she moved to Bama and one from my parents.  So, lots of family history in my house.

Also, I still would like to find a mirror to hang over the small chest. I think that would help bounce around some light AND even out the wall. Kirkland's had one to match the wall art in my dining room but it was like $60 and, well, I just couldn't do it. I can wait until it either goes on sale or something else tickles my fancy.

Anyway, so this is what Libby's room looks like at the moment:

Yes. That's my old coffee table. Eventually it and it's side table sisters will be moving on to the Salvation Army Thrift store but for now it's acting as a temporary "desk" until I can save the fundage to build/buy the kind of desk I want. Ideally I'd love to have a super long wrap around desk but with Libby's bed and the other book case in there, I'm not sure how that would pan out.

I'm not in a hurry, though. Which is good considering that my "fundage" is low these days thanks to root canals, vet bills and greedy plumbers. *sniffle*

Libby doesn't seem to care either way so long as she has her bed, her milkbones and cookies (and pizza and biscuits and whatever else mama's eating!)

I also did a major switcharoo in the living room but haven't gotten around to photographing it yet due to laziness time constraints. Also, I'm still not certain that I even like it so it may not stay that way for long. I'm just living with it a while to help me decide.

Anyway, that's what I've been up to at home lately. You can all wake up now. I'm done. ;-)