on the road

So I’ve got this little nook in our navy blue guest room that used to be quite bare except for plain white shelves and other riff raff that would collect there.

Awhile back I hung vintage scarves to serve as a valance in the space. I like that look but it still needed more!

Back to the hideous white shelves. They are made of particle board and were left by the previous owners. They are definitely functional but not pretty. Either is the hole left by their cable cord.

I decided to jump on the old book page bandwagon and recover the shelves with them. Since the antique furniture in the room is already the color of old book pages, I thought the shelves needed a little umph. Enter this big old atlas that I got for about 3 bucks at a thrift store. I tore a few pages of blue, green and yellow maps out to mingle with the book pages.

I haphazardly applied the pages to the shelves using spray adhesive (while dinner was cooking). This is a quick task.

After that dried, I applied a layer of mod podge using a sponge applicator.

Then I moved in some pretty shabby items

Yes, I applied pages to the under side of the shelves too.

I like the yellowing book pages and blueish atlas pages much better than the stark white particle board, don’t you? Would you believe that Ryan never noticed the shelves before they received this little “wallpaper” treatment? He asked if I hung the shelves too. Ha! They’ve been there all along.

Loving the tarnished silver compote filled with old wooden spools. Someone’s trash is my treasure.

Across from the shelves, I moved in the vanity that matches the rest of the French Provincial bedroom set that belonged to my grandmother.

My favorite part is the antique vanity stool. I was going to have it recovered but I am starting to find the worn in upholstery endearing. It doesn’t look half bad in its new home. Should it be re-upholstered? What’s your vote?