three-hour shelf

While I haven't found myself with a shortage of ideas/projects for the new house, I have found myself a little short on time and the necessary components to complete said projects. If the move itself weren't enough of a whirlwind, leaving town for five weeks right after we set up camp threw this organized Virgo into a tailspin. When we got back, things were even more hectic. I had to find my way around a new neighborhood, the [big] kids were starting preschool in two weeks, and I had no idea where I had put anything in my haste to unpack everything before we left. I still can't find one set of our sheets...I'm convinced I left them in the dryer at the apartment.

Two weeks into the school year, and after I finally made it home from the grocery store without getting lost, I was inspired to get to work this week. However, I don't have any completed projects to show off yet. Except one. It's a bookshelf. And it took three hours to arrange. I wish I were kidding.

P.S. It was finished on day two or three of the great move-in.

This is the living room on the day I first saw the house with the kids but without Alex (notice Tillie's feet in the foreground). The living room was by far the best looking space in the house at the time, and the fireplace is what sold me on it--not because you need a fireplace in Texas but because you need the perfect spot to hang your taxidermy in Texas.

I guess hanging the deer head above the fireplace was technically our first project since it went up the night we moved in, but I've since tweaked it (stay tuned for updated pics) so that doesn't count. My first actual project took place in the back right-hand corner of the room. Check out the built-in bookcase (another reason I loved the house) and my stack of books just waiting to be arranged...perfectly arranged.

Exhibit A: the bookcase that took no less than three hours to complete. This is my new reading corner, which I think is way more chic than the old reading corner at the apartment. Although actual reading has yet to take place here, I have enjoyed a glass of wine (or two) in this lovely spot.