This project took me about three weeks from start to finish with two weekend trips in that stretch so I’m feeling pretty proud of that.
The total cost was around $820.00 plus my blood, sweat, and tears. The typical cost for custom bookshelves is around $3,000+ with labor being the most expensive piece. So I consider this a big win for us!
This project was something we both discussed while walking through the home the first time. We loved so many details about the home but this wall felt very underwhelming in comparison. It needed to make more of a statement.
Design Process
I started by determining the bench style since they would be the base. Simply floor to ceiling bookshelves felt like too many shelves and a LOT of things needed to fill them. With a window on each side, I decided a bench under each window would fill the space well. I looked to the window bench in our sunroom that I built for inspo. But I decided I really wanted something more modern with clean lines. So I went with the sleek design you see in the photos. Ryan mentioned that he thought they looked like benches you would see in museums and art galleries and I loved that!
The bookshelves were easy enough, basically squares with how much space was between windows and walls and fireplace. I made sure the openings were at least 12” tall so we wouldn’t struggle to find things to fit on them. I’ll be posting a list on Amazon of my favorite decor for bookshelves 🙂
Building the bookshelves was tricky in that none of them were exactly the same size, so I couldn’t cut all of the shelves all at once to the same measurement to speed it along. Somehow the windows are not the same distance from the walls or from the fireplace, and the fireplace isn’t centered lol. So I had to go section by section cutting all pieces to fit. It doesn’t matter how new your house is, it turns out all walls are not straight and spacing is not perfect.
Shelf Railing
The shelf with the railing at the top came to me after thinking about the top of the bookshelves for many days. I initially wanted them to go to the ceiling or to the crown molding, but with the coffered ceilings we have, that just wouldn’t look right. So I needed a way to bring them lower and not interfere with the ceiling trim and I thought a shelf at the top with a cute railing detail could be exactly what we needed. The final height is also a much more manageable height to dust on occasion versus going to the ceiling – I’m a practical gal through and through.
We decided to go with a white to match our current trim in our home and ended up painting the walls a slightly darker greige. The bookshelves felt lost and washed out against the lighter wall color we had here before. So we added some dimension to make them pop! The color of the walls is Park Avenue by Behr.
I think bookshelves are a wonderful addition to most spaces because they just ooze charm and coziness while also serving a functional purpose of storing some things. You will definitely find me building more bookshelves in our home after this 🙂
Still Left to Do
We’ve got to find some decor to put on the top shelf since I just installed the railings this week. We were missing a couple of pieces but the seller sent them right away when I asked!
Ryan is working on some artwork for above the fireplace that I will be building the frames for. It’ll be similar to the textured art we made for the dining room last year
Another phase of this project will be expanding and rebuilding the fireplace mantle and surround. It will stretch from bookcase to bookcase and have a larger mantle to fit all of the Christmas decorations 🙂
Thanks for reading!
