What A Little Paper Can Do

This is our old book case.  It used to house books.  But when we moved, we left behind two corner cabinets, only because they were built into the walls and couldn't be moved.  (Though my one friend took hers with her, framing and all!  You go, girl, cause I'm wishing I did that!)  I loved those corner cabinets!  They had beautiful glass window-framed doors and in the lower cabinets, well,  you could throw anything in there when the doorbell rang!   When we first moved into the house, we painted the interiors red and the trim white.  Below the chair rail we did a cool painting technique of blue with poly-acrylic stripes so that it looked like real wallpaper.  We thought we were so patriotic until a few months later, after trying to get used to it,  we realized it looked ridiculous.  Anyway... you get the idea.   I loved those cabinets!

So here we are in the new house with no place to store our china and after all the shopping I'm doing in the attic, I thought I should bring it out. 

It's called Urban Twilight and it's by Lenox.  I love it now as much as I did when my husband and I first picked it out. 

So I converted the bookcase.  I took the backing off.  (This was an assemble-yourself purchase from Target, so that was easy.)  I found a pretty wrapping paper by Caspari, which they sell at Wegman's.  Wegman's, which is nearby, is one of my favorite stores.  Caspari, which is in Charlottesville, Virginia, is another of my favorite stores, but it is very far away.   If you ever get to visit, though, it is highly inspirational.  I could look at one of their table settings all day.  In fact after looking at their website pictures, I'm wishing I painted the light fixtures in that Tango Orange color I talked about before!  How cool is that!  (Just click on the top right picture)   And they have cool bookcases painted white with the tango orange on the back!  And look at their gifts... these cool key rings in orange and blue.  (Birthday list!)  Hmmm... may have to change everything now!  What do you think, blue and orange motif for the dining room?  Speaking of which, the dining room needs some help... I'll post those pics another time. 

Finally, I set the china atop these beautiful green placemats I purchased on my son's classtrip to Longwood Gardens.  (Every mom should get a souvenir when on a class trip, right?)  You can do a little browsing right here online.  Isn't that fun!  Happy Window Shopping!