Living Room Progress: The Sitch with the Niche

So how are we saying 'niche?'  Do you say Nitch?  Or Neesh?  

I say 'hole in the wall.'

As in, there's a hole in the wall in my living room and I want to do something about it.

Like so.

I don't know why it's only on one side; the lack of symmetry is silly and I would have loved two narrower 'neeshes' on either side of the fireplace.  Pay attention, builders.  The word of the day is symmetry.

Alas, the builders didn't consult me before they built the house and this isn't a custom home where you get to pick everything down to where you want your light switches. (That's the next house.)  

So I've got this hole and I knew I wanted to put a built-in-esque bookcase in there because we have no bookcases in this house and books are life.

Books are life.
via

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There's a guy in my neighborhood that builds things and he came over to give me a quote and I was this close to hiring him but then my DIY spirit took over and I was all "I have all the time in the world!  I can build something MYSELF!"

My husband's laughs could be heard from all over the world.  

That didn't bother me; there are IKEA Billy bookcase hacks all over Pinterest and I knew I could do this.  So, we went to Charlotte because we don't have an IKEA here.  Which makes no sense because there are like a thousand colleges in Raleigh and where there are colleges, one needs an IKEA.  But it's whatever; we went to Charlotte and I came home with two small Billy bookcases.

Like so.

Putting the bookcases together was super easy and I was extra proud of myself.  I bought Kreg mini jig and made pocket holes and everything!  The bookcases were about half an inch too wide so I had to screw them together and the nitch isn't perfectly square, so that bad boy is wedged in there like nobody's business.

Now, the reason why I'm writing about this is because I'd like to get it done before Thanksgiving and there's nothing like putting it out to the Universe, aka you guys, to give you the ol' kick in the pants.

I want to trim it out, put in library lights, and get it all styled and pretty before we have guests next week.  Now whether or not that actually happens will remain to be seen, but it's always good to have goals.

A bit of a wider shot of the living room.

Those are my fall pillow covers; they look more

golden and fall-ish in real life I promise.

And one day very very soon I'm painting all our interior doors black.

Wait for it; it's going to be awesome.

But this is about my neesh.  I have plans for it, my friends.  Plans that I hope to execute in the coming weeks and then I'm going to write about it and it's going to be wonderful.

Oh, and let's talk about my sofa for a quick second.  It's pretty much the most awesome sofa ever and I love it so very very much.  Our old sofa wasn't cutting it in the slightest.

You can kind of see where we were putting the TV in the nitch and the rug was too small and the sofa was too small and it just wasn't working.  We needed a sectional.  I wanted to get a nice one but my neighbors talked me out of it, saying that my kids were still too young and would trash a super nice sofa so we got the Amalfi sectional from Haverty's and let me tell you; I'm so happy with our choice!  Navy doesn't come standard but I had my heart set on a navy sofa and seriously, I love it so much.  Navy is an excellent neutral, did you know that?  It seriously goes with everything and now that I know how to sew pillow covers, I plan to change them out with the seasons and navy is the perfect backdrop.  Even though I'm not about celebrating Christmas until after Thanksgiving, I kind of can't wait to make some Christmas pillow covers.  Because that's where I am in my life; I sew and get excited over pillow covers.  Call me Eunice.

Anyway, the sectional is amazing; I got a jute rug from RugsUSA and the living room is slowly but surely starting to come together.

Keep me accountable, my friends!  Help me finish my neesh before the end of the year!

*PS - I went to my neighbor's house tonight for a party where you buy stuff and I had lots of wine, so I'm really hoping this all makes sense and is entertaining and you like it because your girl has a straight up buzz and I'm loving it.

You're so pretty.