Ethel and Eunice gone wild!
This is a before, after and another after kind of post. Beware, it’ll get worse before it gets better.
I just styled the family room bookcases a few months ago. At the time I kind of liked them.
Now? I’m having one of those “what was I thinking” moments. Do you ever have those?
It wasn’t horrible. I did it back during my silhouette obsession of 2011.
I’m over it now.
pssttt…. Just in case you are in the midst of silhouette obsession 2012, this collection will be available next Wednesday! 🙂
On to the facelift. I found this beautiful black and white toile wallpaper that is very pricey at an exclusive boutique.
You know I’m just messin with ya, right? It’s contact paper from The Dollar Tree.
Whatchu talkin bout Willis? Yep. One dollar a roll. Under $5 bucks to do the whole thing. That’s how I roll. Get it, roll? Moving on…
Once it was finished, I freaked. Not in a good way.
Suh-weet Potato Fries…that is HIDEOUS! Looks like Ethel and Eunice got into the cooking sherry and had themselves a little Grannies Gone Wild party.
Time to assess what it is that is “off.”
The crisp, clean “wallpaper” makes all the silhouettes and old books look dirty. Get outta town, brown!
So I took everything down and started again. This time with photos (of people I actually know and love!) and some of my favorite things… clocks, books, numbers, silver and baskets.
This is my all-time favorite photo of my children back when they were munchkins. It was our Christmas card photo about 8 years ago. Sniff.
And here’s the after…Eunice and Ethel were kind of ticked that I messed up their handiwork. 😉
And because I love side by side comparisons…
I’m still plugging away on the sleeping porch project. It’s slow going because the dang, crazy weather here is not cooperating with my plans. We are supposed to get 4-9 inches of snow later today. That room is cold and I’m a wimp, so not much progress will be made.
I hope you local gals will visit Tattered Tiques this week. They are stuffed to the gills with amazing vintage goodness.
Are you working on any fun projects? How’s your weather? Do you have any spring break plans?
Talk to me…
Linking up at these rockin parties!
Maple & Magnolia 
You crack me up. Big time. Love the dollar store contact paper…now you’ve got me thinking what I could do. Maybe the cooking sherry would help me figure it out. Ha!
This is fabulous! You certainly have a good eye and plenty of stuff to switch around. I would love for you to share this at Wow.
Susan everyday it’s a new WOW with you girl…love what you did and your right the sillouettes were just too small with the small print of the paper…you nailed it!
We too in the Pacific NW are having cold snow expected weather this weekend but I am packing up to head south and hoping the drive down won’t be too bad.
LOVE it! Sure wish you lived close to me…I’d put you to work in my house! Thanks for your sweet humor…you always make me smile!
I am really laughing. That “roll” humor is something I would do that would get me the eye roll from my daughters, but my grandchildren would love it. That’s why we love the little darlings so much. My five year old granddaughter told me last year she thought I was cool. When I thanked her and said she might be the only one, she said “No, I’m pretty sure my brother thinks so too”
Boy, am I digressing. Love the new look of the bookshelves. When I first saw them I was thinking oh boy, too busy, but when you made the switch I loved them.
Good job by using the contrast of a floral with the metal industrial look of your shelf collections. Continues the vibe you got going on in your home…vintage without too much fussiness.
Good Will and Salvation Army have been good sources for wall paper rolls for me…lined or backed many a project with these inexpensive finds. Sarah
You make me laugh. At first I thought it wasn’t so bad with books and silhouettes with the paper but you were so right. Its looks very fresh and chic now.
Hi Susan,
Ok I continue to live vicariously through your decorating projects and it brings out the inner Martha Stewart in me!!! We are moving into our house in NY next week and I can’t wait to try out some of your inspirations! Thanks for keeping the creativity and projects coming -I really look forward to your posts!!!
I am glad you kicked those bitches off your bookshelf project…..they was certainly messin with you and hoping you would like what they did…..I thought it looked good with the paper but then you went all “perfect” on us….
you are GOOD, too good!! it looks amazing! it looks like you just simply recreated a whole new look with a twitch of your nose….not implying youre a witch in anyway 😉
you’re one talented gal.
julie
Much better! I will have to check out the Dollar Store! Wowza…that pretty paper! 🙂
Looks great! I love the fact that you’re willing to change things up.
Any ideas on what to do with a vintage suitcase with tons of old B&W photo’s in it? Soome of these picutres are great and looking for cool ideas.
Have fun with the snow…wishing we had some for my kids to play in since they’re on winter break!
I just love your posts, you crack me up! We are soul sisters, I swear! Sometimes I think I am the only wacky girl out there…gotta love a sense of humor, you know??
Ok, from the before to the after I saw the galvanized box that did reside on the far left, lower shelf did not make the cut. If that is being sold, I am calling dibs!!! Let me know! ;o)
And what the heck with this snow! Ick. So glad I’m heading south in a few days! ]
Mary
YES! I am also going to head to the Dollar Tree….love that contact paper! Love your after look, you did an awesome job! Good luck with all that snow! Here in oHIo (near Cincinnati) we are having a very mild winter. Sixty today, with a threat of severe thunderstorms, then snow showers and very cold tomorrow……go figure!
Melodie (thReaDs~n~StUFf)
I’m doing this. Love the change…love the before and after…it makes such a big difference. Great job. Most people can’t replace their bookcases, furniture or shelves…but this is such a great idea because it changes the whole look…with just work…not a lot of money.
great post.
Blessings,
Debbie
What a great way to emphasize the power of using scale, and amount, to your advantage — the larger objects (and less of them) really do a nice job against this contact paper.
Which I need to go look for now — this would be beautiful, coating hat boxes. (I’ve got several goofy ones that need SOMETHING.)
We just got about 8 inches here in Colorado — it’s drifting like crazy, but the sun is shining again. 95% of the snow came in just five hours or so.
“Grannies Gone Wild”, ah ha ha… I LOVE your final after, the contrast is beautiful with the black frames, the white and the wicker baskets!!
You must be sending your wild weather this way! We are having the “calm before the storm” right now, +6 and sunny…but tomorrow we are expecting up to 20cm of snow, our first big snow storm of the season. We’ve had it good this winter, but that’s all about to end! 😦
I was thinking of you the weekend, we went to downtown Oakville and drove past your old subdivision, sniff, sniff!
I can’t find the etsy shop for Tattered Tique…..says it doesn’t exist????? please advise, thanks
Hi there, Lesa. Tattered Tiques is a shop in Lake Barrington. They don’t have an etsy shop. Hope this helps! 🙂
Love the change!!!!!
I REALLY love the way it turned out! I wonder if my dollar store has contact paper that nice, because I have a very plain black shelf that would look a lot nicer with a fun backing like that. Hmm…
Wow . . . what a difference getting rid of the brown made!! Love the new look!!
Great job! It’s amazing what changing out accessories and moving some things around can do. I do like the paper you used!
Funny thing is, your before photo is what I JUST pinned to my boards because I LOVE it and will be doing my bookshelves just like it over spring break. Your old will be my new! The new look is really very nice. It’s amazing the transformation that you gave it.
So cute! I just wrote a post today about how I have zero craft talent in my body but try projects anyways after seeing cute ideas like this! You have to stop it. My poor hot-glued fingers can’t take much more 🙂
I was laughing my head off at this post!!! Thanks! I LOVE the way it turned out though, just fabulous! XO, Pinky
If you would like to go and throw the silhouette’s my way just let me know I’ve loved them since I was a kid and want to do a whole wall of them but only have a few so far.
Looks great! I like to restyle the book shelves every so often to keep things fresh. I’m thinking of painting the back of the shelves a different color. ~ Sarah
Wonderful transformation! I think bookcase styling is one of the hardest, you did a such a great job combining your accessories with the new look! Glad to have found your blog! 🙂
wow this looks super duper awesome .. loveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee it .. thanks for sharing x
love love love it …
thought maybe you were going to add some ‘stain’m to the wall paper before I READ ON TO SEE WHAT YOU REALLY DID.
genius
OK, that totally cracked me up!
That is quite a transformation (esp for $5.00 and some reshuffling).
And I’m jealous of your snow. However, not so jealous that I don’t mind admitting that it was 80 degrees here in LA yesterday. Shorts. T-shirt. Workin’ outside…..
Wow! Love this look. Great job!
well, i don’t think it looked bad at all on the first attempt, but the second is WOW! love it, and seems to represent your style better than the first try. cannot believe that contact paper is from Dollar Tree! also, you are one funny lady…i always enjoy reading your LOL posts!
when I saw the befor I liked it…but I really really like the after…I think the addition of bigger pieces really ties it altogether!
Fabulous!
My heart skipped a beat when I saw your home!
It looks great i love the clock face xxxx
haha! (Ok…so I just came from your snow post and said I loved your sense of hum”ou”r…and so I went back to the very first post that I commented on when I was here last and saw that I wrote that I love your sense of humor….so this time, just so that I don’t repeat myself…I’ll just say “ditto” to both!) I am adding you to my sidebar of blog reads. I don’t get to blog visit as much as I would love, but I do want to be sure that I can find you again :o)
I love your silhouette obsession, but also love your redo!
Blessings & Aloha!
Tremendous what a difference! Great Idea.
Come link it up at our link party
http://www.finecraftguild.com/party/
Our readers will want to see this!
Oh my! That is beautiful. Gorgeous.
I was thinking your before picture looked pretty darn good, but then I saw your after and I was blown away. I love it! So much more visually interesting! Now ilook at my shelves and think they look like a hot mess! So thanks for making me feel bad about myself! Lol! Hmm… Somehow I always forget about the dollar store. I’m always busy rushing to the thrift stores to find all he good stuff before anyone else can.haha! I’m off to try and correct the awfulness of my shelves!
Oh, Lynne. Thanks really nice. I’m sure your shelves are fine, but it’s always fun to keep things fresh! I know what you mean about the thrifts…ours are bare bones right now. Can’t wait for garage sale season and warmer weather! 🙂
I love this contact paper. I bought all 7 rolls that was left last year at Dollar Tree. I used it last year on the outside of an antique dresser. It turned out so neat. I’ve been checking back for a year to see if they would get it again and just found it last week. I bought all 8 rolls they had. I feel a project coming on. You can see my dresser makeover on my blog. I’m happy to report the paper has stuck like glue with the heavy use my daughter has given it. I holds up well. http://fortheloveofit2.blogspot.com/2011/04/story-of-dresser.html
Wow. What a change. Thank you for sharing the process.
I love it.. thats exactly what I need in my entry way..
I am visiting from over at Claire’s where you were featured..
bookmarking your blog so I dont miss out on any more of your genius creativity~!
Sonny~ 155 Dream Lane
Love this!! You are so funny about Eunice and Ethyl getting into the cooking sherry too. I love how this turned out.
“Oh my” was my first thought after seeing the before bookcase. I LOVE with a capital OV everything you do but so did not like the bookcase and couldn’t believe you created something like that. But after seeing the “after”, you created a much more pleasing to the eye bookcase and you are so right that the first one everything looked old, dingy and grandma-ish! Now it looks trendy and updated. So beautiful. Love that you “put it out there” so that us non decorators can see that even the best, learn from their mistakes and end up with something lovely….
Ok – I need to go to the Dollar Store – NOW! Love the transformation with the paper, but especially after you re-arranged. I always struggle with accessorizing book shelves! Great job!
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