Our Basement Shelf Style Reveal!

With the previous post being about the basement, I thought I should just jump right in and write about another finished area of the space. {Don’t you just love checking projects off the list?!?} This was a big project to tackle, as I had the contractors put together a 54 cube unit bookshelf. I will reveal the secret to how this was done, later in the post! As with any home, we needed additional storage… a place for our books and mementos and a spot for all of the kiddos books and treasures. I have always been a fan of bookshelves that hold more than just books! It’s also a great place to display family photographs, art, sculptural objects, etc. So here it is…

Bookshelves Hold More Than Books…………………  

As you can see, there were a lot of shelves to fill! For a while there, I wasn’t sure we would have enough books and stuff to fill it, but I was wrong. If you look hard enough in your home, you can find it! For these shelves, the top section is for our things and the bottom half holds all of the kid stuff. I love pairing the everyday {books} with something unique {sculptural pieces, objects, etc.} It adds depth to your shelves and tells more of a story about you! I also try to use the entire shelf… layering pictures either in front or behind books. That gives the illusion of more shelf space. And I also like to lay the books both horizontally and vertically. It pleases the eye to see different heights and proportions when looking at the shelf and makes it that much more interesting. When deciding what to do with the top row of shelves, I knew I wanted to add texture with woven baskets. Since we don’t have an IKEA nearby, I knew it would be pricey to find 9 of the same size baskets. So, I went to my trusty TJ Maxx and decided to just find 9 similar baskets with different shapes. I actually think I like it better than having them all the same. Each cube measures 12×12, so I just brought along my measuring tape to the store and measured as I shopped! I definitely recommend that when looking for a particular size basket. I was surprised to see that some of the baskets were too big, when I thought they would fit perfectly. It saved me a trip to the return counter! At the beginning of this post, I said I would reveal the secret to the way these shelves were made. Well… they are just 6 sets of the Martha Stewart cube shelving from Home Depot! I had the contractors buy these shelving units, remove the backs on them and build them into the wall. They connected them together and added the baseboard and crown molding to give them a true built in look. I also plan to add a framed piece of art or mirror to one of the outside shelves. I have always loved that look!