It’s Week Three!!  So last we left, we recessed our Bourbon Cabinets into the walls.  I am so excited that you all loved the idea as much as I did!!  My planned end use for those will be to store all of my extra “stuff” I use for styling.  Pretty accessories, candles, vases, fabrics, pillow covers… things that aren’t used everyday, but I would love to have access to.  At our last home, all of that stuff lived in our shed outside and was not easily accessible.  With those cabinets being filled with little lovelies, I will need a place to put all of our books!  I loved the feel of our library space in our old home.  And quite honestly is the room I miss the most…


So I knew I wanted to create a library in this home as well, just in a slightly larger scale.  The great thing about tackling a project like this is that we can improve upon things the second time around.  My one complaint with the previous built ins was that the shelves were fixed.  I didn’t always feel the need to shuffle the shelves around, but occasionally I would go to add an accessory or book onto the shelf and it would be too large.  So when my husband and I were discussing shelving, he was the one to remind me of that.  I could have gone with shelves that had the holes along the side, but I decided to search around for alternate ideas.
I turned to Pinterest and took a deep dive into my pins.  I loved the look of the slatted options from Rachel Parcell’s built ins designed by Alice Lane Home (top left).  Again, you can see a similar look (bottom right) from Dering Hall.  I felt that this look was unexpected, while still functional for my needs.  So I got to work on the framing.


Once the skeleton was in place, I began to map out the slats.  I used 1×2 Finger Joint boards for the slatted sections & cut a lot of them!  Over 200 of them.


Then I began to install them, one by one.  Let me tell you that a level was my best friend throughout this process.  I used our brad nailer to attach the 1×2’s to the framing.


Pretty soon, it was really starting to look like something.  Now keep in mind, a lot more moulding will be attached to these to finish off the look.


After all of that was completed, we had a major delivery.  One of our sponsors is Novo Building Products & thank goodness!! Because these built ins & the rest of this room(s) need some major moulding to help bring my vision to life. We received close to 400 lbs of moulding!!!  Fortunately every member of the family was here to help unload the freight truck that arrived.  Every piece of base, crown, panel, etc… is currently sitting on our Living Room floor.  Lol.  That is definite motivation to move this project along.


I also started to think of paint colors.  As soon as I heard I was signed on for the ORC, I ordered some paint samples from Farrow & Ball.  Before they arrived, we found out my husband lost his job due to Covid.  I was really hoping I didn’t fall in love with any of the F&B paint colors, because I knew at this point our budget had been cut and the money we had allotted would need to go somewhere other than paint.


After they arrived, I really was disappointed in the samples in our space.  Which is why I recommend ALWAYS getting samples.  After living with the drywall green for a minute, I really began to hate the color down here and was glad that it would be painted over.  So much to my surprise, all of the paint samples had tones similar to the drywall (or too close to paint colors we already have elsewhere!) What I love about Farrow and Ball is that their paint is so pigmented… unfortunately that means that they can change drastically depending on the natural light in each space.  All of these sort of died.  I also was shocked that the darker paints made the items currently being stored in the Bourbon Cabinets disappear in person.  They basically became a void.  This was the opposite of what I had envisioned for them.  So my original plan of having a dark and moody library was immediately tossed out.

But you know what I do have on hand and at no additional cost.  A few cans of my go to white.  And we are currently working with what we have.  So the walls will be going Sherwin Williams Pure White & the trim/built ins will get Sherwin Williams Alabaster in high gloss.  Don’t be disappointed!! I know a lot of you are over white walls.  I still love them, but I promise there will be other things happening down here that still have tons of drama!  Plus this space is visible from the main floor & if it went dark (especially the walls on the stairwell!) it would really compete with the stairs and mural I revealed earlier this week.  I am a big proponent of everything happens for a reason, and I think white walls were meant to be.

And FYI, if you need me, I’ll be downstairs installing a ton of moulding!!

Just in case you missed any of the other weeks, here are the links.

Week One // The Before
Week Two // The Bourbon Cabinets
Week Three // The Built-Ins
Week Four // The Built-Ins + Moulding
Week Five // The Mudroom
Week Six // The Bathroom
Week Seven // The Final Touches