my bookshelves, restyled

One of the benefits of the occasional bout of insomnia is all the things I get accomplished around the house in the middle of the night/wee hours of the morning. To say I am unbearable without a good night’s sleep is the understatement of the century, but when I see all the work I get done when I should be counting sheep, somehow it’s a little more bearable.  My built-ins are a fabulous example.  We lost power for fifteen hours last night during one of the worst thunderstorms we’ve had in a while, so while the furbaby snored away on his bed, oblivious to the storm (lucky duck), I decided to clean the shelves on my built-ins and rearrange.  

If you’re new around here, we built corner built-ins for an awkward space between our family room and kitchen.  It’s been a lifesaver for additional storage, a place for our TV and also for opening up additional space in that weird spot.  Read about the before and after here. 

I added a bunch of texture – woven demijohn bottles, crusty old medicine bottles and faux coral for a nautical touch for summer.  Here’s the right side and little sneak peek into my kitchen behind it:

The left side:

A few crusty old liquor and medicine bottles add a little interest:

Woven and glass demijohns and, of course, I couldn’t style my bookshelves for summer without including a handmade monkey’s fist – check out how I made it here:

Books, a favorite watercolor painting from a recent trip to the U.K. and some coral:

A great shot of my little lovebug and some of my favorite design books:

The hubby is a Marine and so we have a ton of books on the military, wars and sailing – it seemed only fitting to include a chunky piece of coral on top of a stack of some of his:

How do you like to style your bookshelves?  Hope you have a wonderful weekend!