I would like some suggestions on what to do to spruce up this shelf built into my living room wall. It looks dated and I'd love to paint it out and redecorate. The rest of the walls are white and gray.
By babysobluexx from Leominster, MA
I would remove the scalloped edging on the shelf unit and replace it with molding that you can buy at lumber yards/home improvement stores, for not too much. Being I have a tendency to rush in where angels fear to tread I would paint the edges to match the walls, then paint the back wall of the book case a completely different color that would be the same as some of your accessories or upholstered furniture. Then I would go down to the what appears to be louvered doors and paint the louvered part the same as the back area of the shelf part, leaving the edges of the doors the same color that you painted the edges and shelves.
I agree with redhatterb adding only that the new molding should match that around the doors. I would definitely paint that thing to make it blend with the walls.
I was considering taking down the scalloped edges too! It looks way too old fashioned. I do like the louvered doors though. I have accent colors that would work quite nicely in the backs of the shelves.
I agree with the others - about looking dated. If the scallops were gone, new trim, it'd look so much better. Not sure what your decor/style is, but perhaps paint it a complementary color. Or a white wash treatment? You can also restain it to match other woods in your room. That would take more work, but should look very nice.
www.google.com/
This link will give you a lot of ideas on re-purposing furniture. Choose an accent color to your room decor, and then make the back lighter and the sides a bit darker. Example: If your living room has a lot of brown, go with a softer blue and a darker blue. Something like that. Pretty baskets inside will house little things you need but don't want to clutter up the place.
Hope that helps. PBP
Once you paint wood, it is very hard to get it back to the natural wood look again, so I would think twice before painting it. The scalloped edging is what makes it look outdated. That could be removed. You could tack posterboard inside on the back and sides & use pieces of the same posterboard, in a color you like, as shelf liners to color it up a bit, without changing the color of the wood permanently. The edges could be covered with edging from a home improvement store.
To me, the shutter doors also make it look a little outdated, & that section looks out of proportion to the top. I would either remove or paint the doors. If you remove them then the interior of the lower portion could be covered with posterboard, same as the top. If you paint them they could always be replaced with matching wood doors later.
If you truly don't care about preserving the natural wood look, then maybe you should paint it the same color as the walls to make it blend in. An old trick, which someone else mentioned, is to make the back, or back and sides, a color that will show off the items you display.
