One Bookshelf Three Ways (imperfect)

You might remember back in September when I shared our new living room bookshelf with you. The process of ordering the Sauder Barrister Lane bookcase and putting it together was a breeze. We love this bookshelf and I can’t tell you how many compliments I’ve received on both the piece of furniture and the placement of it in our living room.

But, if you’ve been around for any length of time, you probably know that I just can’t leave well enough alone. I love to rearrange furniture (our family room is currently a mess as I figure out another furniture layout for our sectional…), and this bookshelf was no exception.

A Bookshelf as Toy Storage

In an effort to make our playroom/office make sense, I moved the bookshelf into our playroom. I love cubbies for playroom organization because it helps me keep things clean – if everything has a cubby, then it’s easy for the kids to get things out (and put them away). We rotate toys in our house, so when things are neatly displayed, the kids are more likely to play with them than when they’re all just jumbled together in a cabinet.

Baby toys on the bottom, big kid toys on top.

This bookshelf is perfect for toy storage. The small square cubbies are generously sized and fit games and toys beautifully, but are small enough that I’m not tempted to cram too much stuff in to each one. In the bottom bigger cubbies, I keep fabric bins for the play kitchen food. Because that stuff goes everywhere if I don’t have a place to contain it.

A Bookshelf as A Dining Room Bar and Storage

Next up, I tried the bookshelf as storage in our dining room. Our dining room isn’t very big, so I’ve been hesitant to add much furniture to the room (beyond our table and my parents’ antique pie safe). But despite the small size of the room, two walls felt incredibly bare, even with art on them. So, I figured I’d give the bookshelf a try in the room. It’s narrow, so it doesn’t take up a huge footprint, but the height and storage are great for a dining room.

I love having a place to keep our wine that’s not the top of the fridge. It’s the little things, I’m telling you.

I love that this gives me a place to display things we haven’t been able to display before – like the kids and Mr. B’s silver baby cups and B’s grandparents’ silver serving pieces we used to cut our cake at our wedding. I’ve never had open storage in our dining room before, so I’ll need to play around with what makes the most sense (Thomas and Nell know not to touch things that can break, and Peter’s not mobile yet, but when he is all breakables will need to go out of his reach).

And you can always check out the bookshelf as a decor piece in our living room.

I love when a piece of furniture works in multiple rooms in a house. When I originally ordered it I kind of imagined it ending up in Thomas’s room for his books and toys, but I love it so much on the first floor of our house I don’t know if it will make the trip upstairs. You can check out my pinterest board for ideas on how to use one piece of furniture in multiple ways.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Sauder. The opinions and text are all mine.

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We have a similar cubed shelving system in our playroom ... by Heather Laura Clarke

Emily

One Bookshelf Three Ways

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