When I meet people for the first time and they find out I am an interior designer, one of the first things they say is “Your house must be Perfect!!” To be honest, I don’t really know how to respond to this comment! I see my house as a Living Laboratory where I get to experiment and play with new design ideas. The house has been through a few “decor” phases since we decided to live here! Our house was built in 1895, and when my husband Jeff bought it there was a lot of work to be done. We have repaired years of neglect to the electrical, plumbing, boilers, roof, etc. At some point I will give you a tour but today I really wanted to share the built ins we installed, and I recently restyled, in our den.

Below is a picture of our den when Jeff bought the house. This room is at the front of the house and was being used as a bedroom with a rickety, NOT original closet and painted plywood covering up the radiator. Nasty old brown wall to wall carpet was everywhere. We tore everything out!

Here is that same wall, exposed and painted radiator, and window! One thing about old houses is the lack of closet space and storage so we added these built ins and lights. I wanted all the storage we added to feel authentic and I love having all this space for our books!

The wood floors beneath the old brown carpet were a beautiful oak throughout the entire first floor. I had the shelves made in oak to match the floor, I love how the wood adds texture and warmth to the wall.

Jeff and I have a lot of books, which we love love love! I can’t get enough art and design books and love to collect what my favorite designers publish. For the lighting, I used simple library sconces from Visual Comfort and have them on a dimmer so the room feels cozy at night.

The shelves contain items I have collected from traveling. Below is a William Turner print I brought home from the National Gallery in London. William Turner painted controversial topics for the day, I love the depth of meaning behind his work.

Iris Van Herpen is so inspirational, I love this book!!

It’s hard to believe that our light filled and cozy den used to look dark and drearie, the transformation is so satisfying!

Have you added built ins to your home? Are they styled with items you love? If you need to add storage it might as well be beautiful!

XO,