Living Room Bookcases Part 2 + New Rug!

It's silly how long it's taken me to share pictures of our updated living room - we've had this finished for over 6 months...

Mike finished the "built in" bookcase in the living room by installing the final section across the sun room doors (see part 1 here). We purchased one of the narrow Billy bookcases from IKEA that was the perfect width for the top of the door frame to the ceiling molding.Installed on its side, it had to be cut down to fit the space between the tall bookcases. Mike measured from the center out so that the middle stability shelf was centered over the doors. Cutting it down was easily done, assembling the bookcase was fairly straightforward as well - Mike just had to drill new holes and everything came together easily.

To get the shelf flush with the door frame and bookshelves, Mike added a backboard of spare wood (drilled into the studs in the wall). From there he attached the assembled shortened bookcase with heavy duty brackets used for decking. It's REALLY sturdy - we could probably use the bookcase as a pull-up bar now (but we won't test it).

Originally we were going to put molding across the front, but when we did a test piece, it didn't look right. It actually looks better without. We didn't add molding around the sides of the bookcases either because our walls aren't straight and the molding highlighted how wonky they are.

My favorite things in this house are the things that look like they've always been there, and this is one of those things. I can't imagine going back to how it was before with shorter dark bookcases without lighting - this is so much better. The height really accentuates are tall ceilings.

Also, we can't forget our new(ish) rug! We finally put down the new rug about a month before Morgan joined our family. The intense pattern camouflages a lot, which is key with two young kids and a puppy. Plus the price (amazon prime day deal from last summer) can't be beat. This rug is 8 x 10 instead of the 5x7 rug we used to have in here (that Georgia ruined and we threw away when she was having all her problems). The size is a much better fit for this room. And it's so soft and thick and comfortable to sit on. The boys love relaxing on it or playing on it. The pattern hides everything. And the colors work surprisingly well in the room.

You can also see how we're living with our old couch from when we first moved in (it lived in our sun room/playroom for a long time until we got rid of our newer but almost-ruined Crate & Barrel couch last summer). We will probably keep this one here for another year or so, until Morgan is out of her puppy phase and the boys are that much older. Right now this poor couch is taking a beating in chocolate milk spills, muddy paws, and chewed corners. It's a very comfortable couch for sitting and it's actually a GREAT couch for napping (seriously it's probably the best napping couch of my whole life)... but this couch also drives me crazy. The cushions NEVER stay put. They are always sliding forward at an uncomfortable angle, even with the cover on it. And it's a pain to constantly put back together 10 times a day when back cushions have to be pulled up while the bottom ones pushed in, the covers re-tucked, everything re-shifted and I feel like I'm doing acrobatics. I LIKE that the cushion covers are removable for washing, but I wish they didn't slide around so easily. We also need more seating in here - I still have my eye on a modular IKEA sectional with removable covers as our next couch (even if the purchase date keeps moving into the future).