I know, I know. I already revealed the library/dining room in this decorating for Christmas post, but I didn't really reveal it. You didn't see it from all angles and you didn't get a sense of what it actually looks like when it isn't all tarted up for the holidays. Everything looks different when it's tarted up. I for one look totally different when I'm tarted up than I do when I'm just everyday slumming it.
I feel like I look better when I'm tarted up a little bit, but whenever I watch Survivor and I see the contestants on the final "reveal the winner" show in a studio I'm always a bit horrified. The women have makeup on, the men's scabs have healed and nobody is missing big clumps of their hair. I mean, they look awful. I much prefer how everyone looks on the show when they're makeup-less, wearing ratty clothing, chasing an escaped chicken through the woods. So ... I like it better when they look just like me.
I'm sorry, it's a little late for me to say Ta Da but, TA DA! Probably should have said that at the beginning of this post. This is what the dining room looks like on a regular day, sans ornamentation, garland or a big barfing of sparkles.
O.K. it's not exactly how it looks. I don't normally have a stack of plates and cutlery on the middle of my table, but the table looked empty so I had to stick something there for the photo. That's what we like to call propping. Or "dressing" the set as we used to say in the world of television. (Which I quit 5 years ago because they insisted on clean hair and perfect makeup almost ALL the time. It was infuriating.)
I cannot put into words how much I love this dining room now. And I'm a writer, plus kind of a talker, so that's saying something. Actually I'm just being lazy. If I sat here for an hour or so I could probably pound out a really great sentence that would sum up exactly how I feel about this dining room, but why bother. I know what you people are like. For this type of post, one that's a reveal of my library/dining room, you're just in it for the photos. Now, if I were giving you a post on the date I went on last week you'd want the words. And probably pictures now that I think of it, so not a great example.
I know a lot of you were worried about Margaret (who I intend to research a bit more about this year by the way) and whether or not she'd stay. No matter what happens in the rest of my house for the rest of time, Margaret will never leave. Margaret is my homeboy. Schizzle mafizzle.
The shelves aren't particularly styled and I really didn't spend a lot of time putting things in there. I just stuck some stuff in and made sure it was all relatively balanced in terms of books and "objets d'art". Which is a fancy term for knick knacks, the same way penis is a fancy word for that big purple thing. Literally translated objets d'art is "art objects", but anything that's generally small, has artistic interest or is a curiosity can be convincingly called an objet d'art.
But here's the thing.
Not all of my "stuff" is an objet d'art. In fact some of my stuff is just regular. It's not arty or cute or curious. It's just bleh. Stuff like toilet paper, tripods, other camera equipment and craft supplies. I've always had trouble finding spots in this storage-less 175 year old house to put crap like that. People didn't need a lot of storage in 1840 because they only owned a shotgun, a potato masher and a bottle of snake oil.
So what to do with all of that extra, boring stuff?
Put it right there in the bookshelves with everything else.
Ready for the secret surprise?
Yep. In between every single, individual bookcase is secret storage with shelves, hidden behind a door.
It. Is. A. Storage. Miracle.
That's part of the reason the bookcases took me so long to do. There was a bit more planning when I had to also figure out how to approach my storage idea.
I ended up just using flat, stock pieces of MDF for the "doors" combined with concealed hinges. I bought them off of Amazon (here's the link to them) and they worked great. These particular concealed hinges are incredibly easy to install because they just screw directly into the door and you don't need to recess them at all. There are other, sleeker concealed hinges but they're really difficult to install and way more expensive. If you want to do something like this, and you aren't a master craftsman these non-mortise concealed hinges are the way for you to go.
I mulled over a few ways to put the corners on hinges as well, but ended up just using strong magnets to hold the corner doors in place. It was the easiest, cheapest and most effective way to do them. Being able to take the entire corner door off meant I would gain another inch or so of space to shove things into the corner.
That extra inch is exactly what I needed to be able to fit my entire white Christmas tree into the corner along with a whole whack of Christmas decorations. This in turn means I don't have to shove this Christmas tree up my 18" wide basement staircase every year AND I gain that much more room in my basement.
The other corner doors come off the exact same way, only hidden behind it is my 1950's era floor buffer, some photography lighting and backdrop equipment.
One entire section of the super-secret, hidden storage areas is devoted to my canning.
Everyone. That is the definitive list of those who tried to dissuade me from putting these bookcases in my dining room. Every. One. The reasons they gave were everything from "It'll make the room look smaller." to, "... but the bookcases look good in the foyer!". Well, the room somehow looks bigger with the bookcases, the foyer looks just fine without them and most importantly, I knew that I was going to love it. I could just feel it.
And sometimes that's just what you have to do with decorating, with clothing, with life. Go with your gut feeling. Nobody knows you better than you do. Other than maybe your mother. And even she gets you wrong sometimes.
The room isn't completely done, I'd like two new head chairs, I need to move my chandelier to centre it over the table, and I'd actually like to make a new chandelier. I have paint on the floor I still need to scrape up and I need to make a roman blind.
But for now I'm just enjoying the fact that the bookcases are done, the tarty Christmas decorations are out and I can finally behold my new library/dining room in all her natural (slightly scabby) glory.
Sharon Grant
Functional AND beautiful. Not much more a person can ask than that :)
Karen T.
A-freaking-dore. There's a different "f" word I want to use but I don't know if the internet profanity police would delete my post.
Jan in Waterdown
Hell no!
Karen
I'm actually thinking of writing an entirely new post on the fact that this post elicited more *fucks* than any other post in the comment section. :) ~ karen!
Louise
Here's how my thought processes went:
1. Huh, the shelves look even better than I thought, now that I can see them. Nice job!
2. Ooh, I want to hear about the date - bug Karen unmercifully until she spills all the details!
3. Oh My GOD! That's BRILLIANT!
The rest of the time was spent muttering words like "genius," "unbelievable" and "incredible."
And "WOW!"
I even forgot about the date until I saw someone else mention it in the comments.
GREAT job, Karen!
Marianne
Genius storage idea! I am (almost) inspired to do something similar. Perhaps major decluttering first. Then bring on the tools. You are inspiring and SO entertaining. Next post The Date. Please. With sugar on top.
Nina
Hot diggity, ding-dong dang girl!!! This idea is pure storage genius. I didn't see a before picture, but I agree that the room looks very airy, not closed in at all. I'll be using the references for the hinges for a small project planned for spring. Thanks for the update!
Karen
Hi Nina. If you look here at my house when it was featured in a magazine a few years ago you can see the dining room. It looked great and airy as well, but there's more room now and it feels more like a "room". :) ~ karen!
Lori
Okay....that's just awesome! Now...about that date???
Brenda
We and he ... left out in the cold ...
Auntiepatch
Genius!
Edith
Wow Karen, that's really clever! Your room looks great!
......So, btw ..........in Canada they're purple!?
Karen
Just the tips in the cold. ~ karen!
TucsonPatty
I know, right! Hahaha!
TucsonPatty
Actually, that is a pure lie. I don't know that. I just surmised that little factoid.
Robbin Caskenette
Amazing shelves and brilliant storage idea. But, let's get to what's really important - the date? :-)
Sue
Wow! Stroke of sheer genius!
Sara
That is Brilliant!! I love it. I have to admit, seeing the photos the last couple of weeks, I was thinking that there was so much waisted space between each section. I should have known better. I should have known that you would have an ingenious plan.
Enjoy your secret.
Karen
:) I did. I had a plan. ~ karen!
Angela
I'm with you. I wondered why she was wasting space, and I should have known better.
Gunnila
The same here. My first thought - so much wasted space and so much more additional work installing the spacers. Now it's just my thing, seeeecrets!
Raymonde
I've always thought that bookcases look great anywhere and everywhere and yours are no exception! As for the hidden storage, it's a genius use of little bits of space. Bravo!!!
Ardith
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Total coolness.
Brilliantly executed.
Sandi
The dining room shelves look amazing. The secret shelves are a great idea. Tell us about the date, with pictures.
Brenda
Yes ... moving right along ... the date with pics!
Angela
Yeah, she totally buried the lead with that one.
Susan Claire
A DATE and that BIG PURPLE THING all in one article-SOMETHING must have happened-details please!
Brenda
Exactly ... the reveal without the reveal - not like the story within the story we learned about at school.
Robert
I definitely did not expect the Christmas tree in the corner ?
How big are the shelves?
Were not for Meryl's speech earlier today this would have been my favorite thing of the day
Brenda
tree stuffed in the corner's total GOLD
Karen
Shit. I missed it. I turned the Globes off after a while to watch a terrible Hallmark Made for TV movie (which I love). I'll go Youtube it. ~ karen! Oh! The shelves are 7" wide and about 15" deep. ~ karen!
Heather
I got sucked into those Hallmark movies at Christmas time. Every.single.one had the SAME plot! I watched them all.
The dining room is amazing & the hidden storage space...BRILLIANT!
Robert
https://www.omaze.com/experiences/Idris-Elba just a little something you and other readers might like, I would even enter myself for the tickets to the dark tower premier and a chance to meet Ms Kershaw but I'm assuming you would prefer the date with Mr Elba ?
Barb
Absolutely fabulous, fantastic, amazing, incredible!
Brenda
Purple?
Brenda
BIG yeah
mauve ... maybe
TucsonPatty
That was what I laughed about, first! : )
Sherry in Alaska
Just purple. That's all.
Mary W
My sentiment exactly! Seems a trip to the emergency room is needed to relieve the pressure.
Grammy
Yes. Purple.
Megan Campbell
Wow. This is fantastic. Love the HIDDEN STORAGE, the shelves, the WHITE CHAIRS, Margaret, everything. Your resourcefulness and creativity are amazing. So much so that I would like to marry you, except that I am already married.
Karen
Whatever. You just don't love me. You can just say it. ~ karen!
Ishrath
i feel like marrying you every week!! and you are not even the gender i have an affinity with. tell us more about the date last week.
Megan
I can't be the only one who quietly whispered "oh. my. god" when those brilliant shelves were revealed.
Bravo.
Karen
LOL. glad it got a reaction. :) ~ karen!
pat barford
Not at all!
Karin in NC
Oh - it got a reaction, all right. I, along with everyone else here, gasped when I saw the storage idea! You are fuckin' brilliant! I also have a very small, old house with no storage (which I kinda like as it forces me to not have so much crap), so I'm always looking for new places to store must haves like T.P. I love the idea of bookcases in the dining room - always have - but unfortunately for me my dining room is the former sunroom which has three walls of floor to ceiling windows. So no bookcase filled dining room for me, but I LOVE yours.
Jen
I did too~! I was wondering why there was this big white piece of what I thought was weirdly flat molding between each shelf. GENIUS!
Karen
Ha! I chose to use flat actually to keep it all very simple looking. But if someone else liked the look of fancier or more ornate mouldings, you could easily use those on the flat door pieces. :) ~ karen!
Leah C
You are not the only one! I got so excited my heart started racing! :)
(I may be a storage nerd.)
Jenifer
Definitely not the only one!! :)
Katie C.
You definitely aren't the only one!
I think I silently (if I wasn't at work it would have been audible) exclaimed, "Whoa!"
Those are amazing! I want secret storage bookcases!!
Ev Wilcox
Me too! When I saw the hinge I said "what the hell.... and was jumping up and down inside!
Kelly B
My actual words when I saw the hinged storage were "no. freaking. way". Amazing.
Mark
Brilliant idea!
Karen
I know, right? It's the way the brain thinks when you live in a house with no storage. So really it's the house that deserves congratulating. ~ karen!
martina
Seriously, you are a total genius. I'm currently planning on making a custom bunkbed for my kids and you've given me so many new ideas! I thought it was so odd that you didn't use all the space, but of course you did!
g-e-n-i-u-s