Do you remember wayyy back in October when I shared my living room and study tour, and I said that I’d be sharing plans for the redesign of my study “very soon?” Well, now it’s almost four months later and here we are! That’s soon, right? Soon-ish? Soon enough? Haha.. anywho!
When I first was contemplating my living room design, before I even made settlement and moved in, I knew I wanted bookcases along the back wall under the soffit. And I liked the idea of a desk behind the couch. These two elements created a separate space I’ve been calling my study, thought I seldom actually use the space for more than a pass through to the back deck. I usually grab my laptop and hunker down on the couch. But I’d like to use the space more thoughtfully and I have some ideas for how I’d like to do that.
The current arrangement of the bookcases was dictated by an electrical outlet that’s smack dab in the middle of the wall. So I left about a foot gap between the two, but I don’t really care for having that big space there and have pretty much wanted to update this area since I first put it together.
The bookshelves are from IKEA (of course), the BILLY model. And they have a narrower option available as well. On one of my Pinterest scrolling sprees I saw some shelf inspiration which got the wheels turning (uh oh!). I started thinking about relocating one of the bookcases to my office/studio space upstairs (tour to come “soon”) and then I could move the remaining bookcase over and flank it with two of the narrower units. Then I thought it would be nice to have a chair near the sliding glass doors, to read while curled up in a comfy chair, enveloped in a sunbeam.
The Inspiration
Image Sources: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9
The Mood Board
Ta da! What do you think? Some notes about my design decisions:
- The Chair. When I first envisioned a reading chair I pictured a cognac colored leather club chair. I searched high and low for a version I could afford or would be willing to splurge on. No such luck. Every time I went to IKEA I would pass their chair section, looking for something that would match what I had envisioned. No go though. The emerald green, velvet STRANDMON wing chair that I’ve chosen looks nothing like what I pictured, once I sat in it I knew that it was perfect and I instantly forgot about the cognac leather.
- Sconces. Since I’ll be covering the outlet when I reposition the one bookcase, I’ve been racking my brain as to how I can add a lamp in the corner for when a sunbeam isn’t handy in the evening hours. I do plan to cut a hole in the back of the bookcase so I can still access the outlet if I need it. But that doesn’t solve my problem of how to run the cord for a floor lamp behind the narrow bookcase to light up the corner. I contemplated drilling holes through the sides of the bookcase but didn’t want to ruin it permanently. Then a light bulb (pun intended!) went off. Sconces and the Nesting With Grace’s Magic Light Trick. You can read about it HERE.
- Pillows. I am undecided on the pillow covers. There are SO many choices! I like all three in my mood board, but I know there isn’t room for all of them. Do you have a preference?
- Accessories. The rug and side table are from Amazon, the blanket and basket from IKEA. I wanted to keep the accessories simple, black and white, to tie in to the other parts of the downstairs.
- The Bookcases. I’m not 100% sure how I’ll style the bookcases. But there will be books! And accessories. Like what I have now, but updated and fabulous lol. I toyed with the idea of adding doors, but I think for now I’ll leave them open. There’s always an opportunity to update it later!
First up, move one of the bookcases upstairs… eek! Then I’ll be placing all of my online orders, so I can get the redesign in place by the end of March!
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