The Evolution and Reveal of the Built-in

You guys, I can't begin to tell you how happy I am with this little makeover. I wish I would have done it eons ago! Seriously. But, as with everything, I'm such a slow decorator/decision-maker when it comes to house stuff. So, maybe it all happens at the right time.

Anyways, I pulled up two pictures of the last time I showed the living room (back in June when I painted the crown moulding):

That cabinet is pretty bad, right?

One day in August I got tired of looking at it and took the jigsaw to the scroll part on top. Then, it stayed like that for like two months. Finally, last week, I had just had enough. I took off the glass door, ripped off the checkered wrapping paper and painted the whole thing bright white.

I was left with a bright white cabinet with glass shelves and glass backboard (the people who built this house LOVED glass... we have it everywhere!). I wasn't feeling the plain glass, so I tried a few options.

I kinda loved the yellow, but I'm getting away from the yellow in the main rooms. So, onto the other options. I finally decided on the bottom right, farthest right one.

I measured the glass backboard and then cut two panels of fabric. I used push pins to attach the fabric to the inside wood.

I decided to stick with the push pins long-term because, after I tried the different fabrics out, I realized you couldn't even see them once they were put up. Plus, it makes it much easier to change the fabric out when I get bored.

From there, I used a screwdriver to push the fabric down between the crease of the wood and the glass.

Once I had the panels and the glass in, I had to address the old hinge area.

I just used what I had on hand to fill the hinge spot. I filled it and then let it dry. I sanded after it was dry and then filled and sanded again.

After the hinge area was taken care of, I loaded some stuff on the built-in and then was less than impressed. It just seamed a bit too "pretty" or something.

I had some scrap plywood leftover from when we made the DIY Anthropologie Mirror, so we decided to cut that the same size as the glass shelves.

We used a jigsaw (our tool of choice) and cut the shelves out.

We then layered the wood over the original glass shelves. We did this to make the shelves extra sturdy.

Putting the shelves back in was a bit annoying, because I had to redo the back panels.

After I got the panels back up and put the decor back in, it felt like us.

The feather art is a free printable that you can get here.

Both wooden picture frames and the white candle holder are thrifted.

The straw geometric shape was inspired by this tutorial from Vintage Revivals.

The gold alligator was a DIY from the summer.

Linking up to:

C.R.A.F.T., Restless Arrow, The Makers,  The Winthrop Chronicles, Home Stories A-Z, Hit Me With Your Best Shot, Outside the Box,  Work It Wednesday,  Think and Make Thursday, Fry Sauce and Grits, Liz Marie Blog, The Inspiration Gallery, Creativity Unleashed - The Bold Abode, Remodelaholic, Whipperberry, The Creative Collection, Tatertots and Jello, and Frugal Crafty Blog Hop.