Wonky Bookcase Gets Pretty

Well we've moved our daughter into her lovely apartment.  While we were making our thousandth trip in the service elevator I saw her large wonky bookcase.  I thought it was going to collapse as we loaded it onto the cart.  I seriously wanted to throw it into the dumpster that was very near the loading dock.  She said she really wanted to keep it so we hauled it into the apartment.  I was looking around and I saw an alcove in the hallway.  It was very shallow and narrow and seemed to serve no purpose but I immediately said that we should see if the bookcase would fit in that spot.  Yea, it fit snugly.  The sides of the wall would support the bookcase.  And you know me the queen of sow's ear to silk purse, I suggested that we add hounds tooth wrapping paper to the back of the bookcase to spiff it up.

On my next visit I brought my roll of wrapping paper and we added it to the back.  Then we styled it.

It looks so pretty now.

The sides weren't the only wobbly part.  Now that the sides were stabilized we addressed the other wonkiness.  The top shelf was falling down too.  

My solution, stack some books and hold it up.  It worked!

She had most of the accessories.  We just put all her stuff on the table and picked and chose what to add.  She had purchased the orange boxes and magazine holders before the move.  Not only do they add just the right interspersed pop of color, but they also provide much-needed storage.  My only contribution was the set of books with the elephant spines which she requested.

She had the shell mirror and the shells.  I always like to have a mirror somewhere when I'm styling a bookshelf and this one fit perfectly.

Did you notice that she likes owls?  They made great bookends.

She was very happy with the result, but I told her that when she moves again, 

this shelf is destined for the dumpster.

Kathy

If you'd like a tutorial about how to style a bookcase, go here for more detailed instructions.