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| JLF’s lovely hallway library is sleek, light and bright. (above) |
So my dear friend JLF sent in photos for today’s post…a fabulous micro makeover she did on her hallway bookshelf.
(Aside: Micro makeovers are those little makeovers that we do in our homes that make a big difference.)
When JLF first moved into her darling West Hollywood home a few years back, one of her first projects was finding a place for her beloved books. There was a long hallway between a sitting room and her master suite where the walls were unused. She decided to put her substantial collection of books including ones written by her favorite authors Par Conroy, Wally Lamb, Amy Tan, Philip Roth and Jane Green. She decided on open shelving that coordinated with the existing honey colored wood floors in the house.
Well a few years later, JLF had the floors redone and wanted to brighten up her booky hallway…so she simply changed out her old shelves with bright white Elfa shelves she purchased at the Container Store.
Tah dah…here is the before and after of JLF’s fantastic hallway bookshelf makeover.
This little change made all of the difference in the space…brightening up the hallway, showcasing her collection in the best light and literally opening up the space.
So I guess the design tip here could be…if you are using open shelving and you want to create a feeling of more space, match the shelving to your wall color so the look is visually seamless.
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| Before: JLF used honey colored open shelving to create a hallway library – the space was functional. (above) |
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| After: JLF replaced the darker wood colored shelves with sleek white shelving to make her hall library a chic and functional space. (above) |
What do you think of this hallway bookshelf makeover? Have you transformed a hallway into a functional space?
Thank you JLF for these wonderful photos. I love what you’ve done here. Stylish, well designed and quite chic in my view!
Happy Wednesday!
xo
Coco
I love it! But please ask J how she keeps them so clean. I feel like I’m constantly dusting my small bookshelf and fear that a collection this size would drive me to quit my job to dust!
Oh so much nicer in white. Great idea!
My husband and I are both English teacher with a serious book “problem”… LOL… One of our 4 bedrooms is a library…I use a Swiffer 360 duster with the handle and “swiffer”the shelves and books each time I vacuum the rug in the room…which is usually at least once a week. Twice a year when we are home for Summer Break and Winter Break, I remove the books one shelf at a time and do a more “formal” dusting–which surprisingly, doesn’t yield a mountain of dust bunnies because of the consistency of using the Swiffer… : )
wow what a turn around!!!! such a marvelous renovation!
xx
Golden White Décor
I like the brightness, which definitely makes that area look more spacious, but I’m not sure how I feel about the light being so incredibly white.
Beautiful! It looks like her new shelves are not as deep as the old ones (you can tell because the old shelves stuck out into the doorway more), which also helps to open up the hallway. Since paperback books have a small footprint, it makes sense to measure your “deepest” book spine and purchase shelves that aren’t much deeper than your books.
I find books so decorative, I have to say I love to read them too.
Thank you for the hallway bookshelves article, a grand idea.
Best,
decogirlmontreal