Bedroom Wall Bookshelf/Entertainment Unit, Part I

 

My husband is very fond of books.  He loves to read and study theology and history in particular.  We also have 3 kids and a dog, and live in a 3 bedroom house with no office or library.  We are packed pretty full, so most of the books reside in our bedroom, in 2 mismatched bookshelves on either side of the bed.  Functional, but not very relaxing or peaceful to look at.  

       Both of us have, over the years, admired home libraries and said that we would eventually like to have one.  So, we decided that we could turn a wall of our bedroom into a sort of reading area/library....If we're going to have the books there, at least they can be housed elegantly.

  

 This area of our bedroom used to be the "gym."  I used a treadmill and exercise ball to work out while I watched TV and the kids got their schoolwork done downstairs.  It was great, but now we were ready to remake the area.  Here's what it looked like after we got rid of the treadmill.

  

Then, for Christmas last year, I asked for and received a miter saw (thanks, honey!) And for my birthday, a couple of weeks later, my gift was the go-ahead to start on the bookshelf project (Yesss!), along with a stylish pink tool belt from my brother and sister.  

  

I started with the usual online and book research, searching for inspiration on colors, design, and building plans.  Here are some of the ideas I found online that I liked:

These were all great starting points.  As you can see, I liked the idea of having white bookshelves on a colored wall.  So what color to choose?  Experts say to look in your closet to help you find colors that you are drawn to, and also that green and blue are the most soothing colors for bedrooms.  

We had also purchased a vintage canvas art piece of Waikiki Beach to display in the bookshelf, which had some vibrant colors in it. My husband and I looked at color samples and decided on a blue-green paint color by Behr (available at The Home Depot) called Tropical Waters.  With my growing up and our getting married in Hawaii, I knew it was perfect for us. 



  




Taped off and ready to paint!





 





Wow, what a contrast!

 


Tada!  The color was a little shocking at first, but I loved the way it coordinated with our inspiration piece, the canvas of Waikiki.  And I knew that much of the color would be covered and tempered by the white shelving units that would be on it.  I loved it!

 


I purchased new bedding to replace our old set.  The new colors really brightened up the room and coordinated with the wall color and art piece.  Next, it was time to begin building the wall unit.