bookcase after

One of our New Year's resolutions involves getting organized, so we've been trying to tackle small clean-up projects around the house as time and energy allow. For motivation, we looked to past Apartment Therapy Home Cures and found this bookcase before-and-after buried in the archives. It's a great example of the difference a relatively small project can make.

During the 8-Week Home Cure, member ImaVunDerBrah focused on an attic bookshelf that had become a clutter collector. Many of us have places like these in our home, whether it's a closet, a cabinet, or a shelf that becomes a "catch-all" for stuff we don't have time to sort through.

She began by clearing everything off the shelf, weeding donations from the pile, and then cleaning and painting the shelves in a rich chocolate brown color. She chose a favorite blue glass vase as a starting point for her color scheme, using a dark tone that would be a complementary backdrop. One nice touch—the Jenn Ski print she hung next to the bookshelf includes the same turquoise tones as the vase.

Great job, ImaVunDerBrah!

Photos: ImaVunDerBrah / Apartment Therapy Chicago Cure 2007