Sunday, January 26, 2014

Look! A Nook!

Hi everyone!

I am sooooooooo excited to share today's post with you all.  I have been working on this project for months now, with the help of Mr. Bluebird.  And ~hooray~ it is finally done!

Our upstairs hall has always been a nothing special area.  Kind of neglected actually.  It's small, dark, and really had little room for any kind of personality.  It has been a very sad space.  At the top of the stairs is a very large closet.  While spacious, over the years we never used it efficiently and it had turned into a harbinger of  clutter and "jamming in junk that had no home."  What a waste of space!

One day while cleaning out this junk heap - yet again - I got the idea of changing this closet into a cozy nook.  I threw this idea out to Mr. Bluebird - thinking he would nix the idea of losing a closet - and to my surprise, he was all in!  So I emptied the closet, took out all of the shelves, and began the process of patching and painting.


I knew I still needed some storage space and came up with the idea of black shelving filled with baskets and vintage crates to fill that need.

 
I also purchased three Pottery Barn Kellan Cubbies with hooks for underneath the shelves.  I also added a wall mounted lamp to amp up the cozy factor.  This is how it looked at Christmas. Not quite finished yet.
 
 
 Mr. Bluebird was kind of enough to add oak beadboard and chair rail.  We did this for the entire hallway and one wall of our stair case (that reveal coming soon!).
 
 
 
 
 
 
We decided on real beadboard because of the high traffic this area gets - the beadboard wallpaper, we felt, would be prone to scrapes, nicks, etc. that would be difficult and/or impossible to repair.  I do love beadboard wallpaper though!!! No, the lamp is not hardwired - I do plan on putting a cord cover on and painting it out to match the walls & beadboard.  (It's okay - cords are a fact of life, not going to hide them and pretend it's something it isn't! I am all for keeping it real!)



 

And voila! The finished nook.  Isn't it the cutest?  I placed a white washed bench and two cushy pillows in the sitting area.  I just love coming up the stairs at night and seeing this view!  It has taken our forlorn upstairs hall to a completely different level.  I don't regret giving up the closet at all.  I still have storage space with the crates and baskets!  I also think this could be a cute area for a desk, but for now, I am enjoying the little sitting nook.

I will post the cost breakdown of everything soon and give you the details on the items used to make this area so darned cute! (Yes, - I do say so myself!) I also have a few pics coming of the rest of the hallway and the staircase.  Stay tuned!

Thanks for stopping by,
Jane

Linking with:
Amaze Me Monday
Masterpiece Monday
Monday Funday
Metamorphosis Monday
The DIY'ers
Masterpiece Monday
DIY Showoff Party
Make it Pretty Monday
Inspire Me Tuesday
The Scoop Link Party
The Makers
Wow Us Wednesdays




26 comments:

  1. Yes it is very very cute!!!!!! Great idea.
    Have more fun with it.
    Think Spring
    Earlene

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    1. Thanks Earlene, you are a sweetheart! I am TRYING to think spring, but these 35 below-plus windchills are making it a tad difficult!

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  2. Love your idea! I've been thinking of using wire baskets in my laundry room, but that's a project waaaay down the line.

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    1. Thanks so much. I love wire baskets and have used them in several area of my home, including the laundry room.

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  3. What a great idea and it looks so good too. Hopefully spring is on the way.
    Mary

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    1. Thanks, Mary! I hope spring is on the way, too - today we have thirty five below windchills, which will be warm compared to tomorrow's predicted forty five to fifty five below zero. Brrrrrr--errrr--errrr!

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  4. .....and I would have never thought about putting a swing out arm lamp in there like you did. it looks so much better than one of those figures on the ceiling.

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  5. What a fabulous nook! I love the accessories you choose and the beadboard is perfect! Great change!
    Miss Bloomers

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  6. Beautiful nook!! Love the mix of metals and wood!
    And your pillows are gorgeous!

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    1. Thank you Selene. The pillows were on clearance at HomeGoods - $10.00 each. Needless to say, I was pretty excited about that deal.

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  7. No wonder you're proud! It's adorable! I love the beadboard in there with the seating area. The pillows are beautiful too!

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  8. Love this and how cute. What a great idea. Thanks tons for linking to Inspire Me. Hugs, Marty

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  9. yes yes! it is very cute!! and functional too jane! i like it...

    hey thanks for sharing this over at The DIY'ers! huggies♥
    rea

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  10. Jane- You are so smart...and so lucky to have a "helper" that can use tools!!!! Mine can't -lol
    Did you know that you are a No Reply blogger? I love to respond when you leave me a comment but your email is a No Reply. If you want to fix it let me know and I will send you the link. Sometimes people don't realize they are No Reply bloggers-just thought I would let you know- xo Diana

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    1. Thanks Diana. I did not know that. Yikes! I believe I got that fixed. Thanks tons for letting me know!

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  11. Love this! Such a smart use of space. I'm really digging the baskets on the wall and the lamp. (P.S. If you have a minute, I'd love if you linked up to The Makers link party going on over at my blog :)

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  12. What a great idea and transformation, I adore finished projects like this, thanks for sharing.

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  13. Jane-Just popping in to tell you that you are still a No Reply blogger. Here is the link for how to fix it. IF you are using Google Plus that is what causes the problem. Most of us have dumped using it because of that and other problems. Here you go! Just copy and paste it into your browser...you probably knew that!;>)

    http://www.flusterbuster.com/2013/02/are-you-no-reply-blogger.html

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    1. All fixed up and ready to rock & roll! Thanks a ton, Diana. I never would have known!

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