Spotty Dotty

Earlier this year I posted about the progress in our upstairs den. New couch, new curtains a turtle shell suspended on a curtain rod…things had improved in a snap, but in order for you to have an accurate understanding of  how far this room has come I need to show you the other side of the room - The built-ins:

This room came with the built-ins and I was excited from day one. I love built-ins and I'd never gotten to decorate and style my own. Happy Courtney!! As soon as the house was officially ours and the renovations had begun I began thinking about what I wanted to do to the bookshelves. Obviously I could add books and knick-knacks but I wanted to take it to the next level and customize them a bit. What to do, what to do? As is typical I day dream about such things and one random day I remembered this wallpaper I'd seen on several blogs over the last few years.  

Tiffany Richey Design. Photo via Google search. 

Meredith Heron Design. Photo via Google search..

Dalmatian Spots - I'm a fan. In fact I've been a fan for sometime….anyone out there remember Spotty Dotty, the Sanrio character? 

Photo from Google Search. 

She was my obsession during my elementary school days! 

Anyways, back to the built-ins. I loved the look of the dalmatian spot wallpaper, it was fun, fresh and just the pop I was looking for. Boom! Decision made, I was ready to go. But I knew our budget was pretty tied up with other renovations (cough,cough KITCHEN) so purchasing wallpaper didn't seem feasible. Plus, installing wallpaper... what a pain! After looking at the pictures I decided I was going to tackle this look myself! I was going to spottily my bookcases. As soon as I made this decision I was practically elbow deep in spots. The back ground for the spots was already there and the supplies were on hand - black paint, small paint brush - I went to town.  

This particular day, Brent was downstairs, caught up in his own project, when he realized he hadn't seen or heard from me in a while...  He ventured up stairs and this is what he found... 

TOO LATE TO TURN BACK NOW!!!

 

I fast became obsessed and crouched myself in and round each opening until I had spotified each one.  I'm really good at instant gratification projects. I could see the concept coming to life right before my eyes which just encouraged me onward. 

Once my shelves were spotted they sat in all of their glory for months, empty waiting for some love.  It wasn't until we bought the couch that we  got ourselves in gear and began stocking the shelves. I focused on styling the shelves, which was fun and challenging at the same time. I loved integrating accessories and keepsakes we have collected individually and as couple over the years. 

I also switched out the undersized knobs for some fun Anthropologie hardware that I spray painted gold. 

Photo from my Instagram. 

Brent tackled turning the giant cavity on the far right into a space for a TV. He had to build a platform for the flat screen to sit on and in doing so created two smaller spaces for the stereo and Playstation 3 consoles; because, according to Brent, no room in our house is complete without a TV and Playstation.

The spots are everything I'd hoped they would be and more. This is definitely a DIY project anyone could take on to jazz up their own space. The spots are a fun, little unexpected surprise and frankly all of our do-dads look better sitting in front of them. It's instant happy! 

Unless otherwise noted all photos are my own.