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How I Styled Our Living Room Mantel and Cabinets with Objects We Already Owned

January 28, 2019 By Maria Gavin - 9 Comments

As much as I loved decorating our home for Christmas, it feels like a breath of fresh air to return to our simple, pared-down decor. The living room is still a slow work in progress, but it is coming along. Nearly every piece used to decorate our mantel and built-in cabinets were items we already owned and had gradually collected. I’m actually somewhat amazed by how well each of the items fits with the character of our 1925 Craftsman house since we had no idea what our forever home would look like when we purchased them. Best of all, the mantel styling was a nice break for our budget after all our moving expenses and renovation costs.

Simple, budget-friendly mantel styling | How I styled my 1925 craftsman house living room cabinets with objects I already owned | Crazy Together blog #homedecor #decor #farmhouse #farmhousedecor

I’m sure the mantel will eventually change over time, once I discover perfect pieces to enhance or replace what we already have displayed above the fireplace, but for the moment, things are working.

Simple, budget-friendly mantel styling with antique windows | How I styled my 1925 craftsman house living room cabinets with objects I already owned | Crazy Together blog #homedecor #decor #farmhouse #farmhousedecor

I love antique leaded glass windows and we purchased this pair for our home office while we were still living in the condo. The Forever and Ever sign was a gift I had purchased for Rob while we were engaged. I also love that I was able to incorporate several of the glass bottles we used as tabletop vases from our wedding.

Simple, budget-friendly mantel styling with antique windows | How I styled my 1925 craftsman house living room cabinets with objects I already owned | Crazy Together blog #homedecor #decor #farmhouse #farmhousedecor

The white ceramic pitcher and little votive holder with succulent look so sweet next to each other on our mantel and they add a little touch of life (even though the plants are totally fake.)

Simple, budget-friendly mantel styling with antique windows | How I styled my 1925 craftsman house living room cabinets with objects I already owned | Crazy Together blog #homedecor #decor #farmhouse #farmhousedecor

The mantel was pretty straightforward to style, but the original built-in cabinets on each side of the fireplace took a bit more planning and finesse. I knew right away that the cabinets were perfect for storing books, but I had underestimated how awkward the layout of the shelves was to work around. I initially tried to simply fill the shelves with books, but once I closed the cabinet doors the arrangement looked very choppy since the spacing of the shelves didn’t line up with the cross beams of the cabinet doors.

All of this meant that I needed to allow for additional space when I styled the cabinets, which is probably for the best because the fireplace itself makes this end of the room feel very heavy. Cramming every inch of the built-in cabinets full of books would have just added to the solid brown wall in our otherwise airy house. The sparse styling of bookcases and mantel helped to significantly soften this area, which is undeniably the focal point of the room.

Here’s the final styling of the cabinet with the doors closed …

Simple, budget-friendly living room built-in bookcase styling | How I styled my 1925 craftsman house living room cabinets with objects I already owned | Crazy Together blog #homedecor #decor #farmhouse #farmhousedecor #craftsmanhouse

And here is how it looks with the cabinets open. It’s crazy how much empty space remains in the cabinets, and I love how using a gentle touch with the decor and accessories actually allows the cracks and character of the cabinets to shine through.

Simple, budget-friendly living room built-in bookcase styling | How I styled my 1925 craftsman house living room cabinets with objects I already owned | Crazy Together blog #homedecor #decor #farmhouse #farmhousedecor #craftsmanhouse

The actual contents of the bookcases we a mix of functional, sentimental, and sophisticated. Best of all, it was budget-friendly because I styled the cabinets almost entirely with objects we already owned. One of the items I was most excited to put on display were a collection of machinery books that belonged to Rob’s late grandfather, Harvey.

Simple, budget-friendly living room built-in bookcase styling | How I styled my 1925 craftsman house living room cabinets with objects I already owned | antique books, vintage-feel framed wedding photos, antique bottles and mercury glass votives all come together to create a vintage vibe in these built-in cabinets | Crazy Together blog #homedecor #decor #farmhouse #farmhousedecor #craftsmanhouse

Of course, not every book in the cabinets are sentimental. We also mixed in some old favorites of Rob’s, as well as a handful of books that I haven’t read yet, but would really like to get around to reading one of these days. It’s amazing how much more simple and classic books look arranged on a shelf after you remove the dust jackets. We said goodbye to all our books jackets a few years ago and our shelves have never looked better since we made the change.

Simple, budget-friendly living room built-in bookcase styling | How I styled my 1925 craftsman house living room cabinets with objects I already owned | antique books, vintage-feel framed wedding photos, antique bottles and mercury glass votives all come together to create a vintage vibe in these built-in cabinets | Crazy Together blog #homedecor #decor #farmhouse #farmhousedecor #craftsmanhouse

With the reading material in place, it was time to sprinkle in a few accessories. I didn’t want to create a lot of visual clutter inside the cabinets, so I limited the type of accessories as well as the number of objects inside the shelves.

I started by including several framed 4×6″ and 5×7″ photos from our wedding day, along with an assortment of additional clear glass bottles from our wedding decor. The bottles added a little extra dimension and helped to fill the space without making the cabinets feel heavy or cluttered.

Simple, budget-friendly living room built-in bookcase styling | How I styled my 1925 craftsman house living room cabinets with objects I already owned | antique books, vintage-feel framed wedding photos, antique bottles and mercury glass votives all come together to create a vintage vibe in these built-in cabinets | Crazy Together blog #homedecor #decor #farmhouse #farmhousedecor #craftsmanhouse

For several months, those were the only objects in our cabinets: just books, framed wedding photos, and glass bottles. I knew I wanted to add something else, but it took a while for me to find the perfect accessory. Then, one day this past summer, I found some simple mercury glass votives and mini (faux) lavender plants that I knew would be the perfect finishing touch. I tucked a faux succulent into each votive and added a few of my accessories into each cabinet. The mercury glass added a touch of sparkle and interest and the styling was finally complete.

Simple, budget-friendly living room built-in bookcase styling | How I styled my 1925 craftsman house living room cabinets with objects I already owned | antique books, vintage-feel framed wedding photos, antique bottles and mercury glass votives all come together to create a vintage vibe in these built-in cabinets | Crazy Together blog #homedecor #decor #farmhouse #farmhousedecor #craftsmanhouse

We keep a lot of our favorite books in the shelves – as well as several other books that we reference often and the cover designs of the paperback books aren’t exactly fitting with the atmosphere of the room. To remedy this, I tucked a few of those books onto the bottom shelf of the more prominent bookcase on the left, where the wood at the bottom of each cabinet door is a few inches thick to help conceal some of the less attractive books.

Simple, budget-friendly living room built-in bookcase styling | How I styled my 1925 craftsman house living room cabinets with objects I already owned | antique books, vintage-feel framed wedding photos, antique bottles and mercury glass votives all come together to create a vintage vibe in these built-in cabinets | Crazy Together blog #homedecor #decor #farmhouse #farmhousedecor #craftsmanhouse

Of course, not every book we read and love has classic styling that naturally blends right in to our home decor. For those books, I took full advantage of the fact that our living room sofa blocks the view of the right cabinet’s lower shelves. All of the not-so-pretty books are tucked into that corner.

Simple, budget-friendly living room built-in bookcase styling | How I styled my 1925 craftsman house living room cabinets with objects I already owned | antique books, vintage-feel framed wedding photos, antique bottles and mercury glass votives all come together to create a vintage vibe in these built-in cabinets | Crazy Together blog #homedecor #decor #farmhouse #farmhousedecor #craftsmanhouse

Simple, budget-friendly living room built-in bookcase styling | How I styled my 1925 craftsman house living room cabinets with objects I already owned | antique books, vintage-feel framed wedding photos, antique bottles and mercury glass votives all come together to create a vintage vibe in these built-in cabinets | Crazy Together blog #homedecor #decor #craftsmanhouse

There are so many things to love about our 1925 home, but the built-in shelves are one of my absolute favorite features of the house and it only seems fitting that the contents inside contain so many more treasures than just a pile of books.

Simple, budget-friendly living room built-in bookcase styling | How I styled my 1925 craftsman house living room cabinets with objects I already owned | antique books, vintage-feel framed wedding photos, antique bottles and mercury glass votives all come together to create a vintage vibe in these built-in cabinets | Crazy Together blog #homedecor #decor #craftsmanhouse

Where I Shopped:
Many of the items purchased for our mantel and built-in cabinets were purchased in-store at local small businesses in southeast Michigan. Here is where I purchased many of the items on display:

Forever and Ever sign: Salty Bison
White ceramic pitcher: The Urban Merchant
Vintage style picture frames: TJMaxx and Home Goods (brand is Parisian Home)
Antique leaded glass windows: The Lamb’s Tail
Mercury glass votive holders, faux succulents & lavender: 28 Furniture Co.

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Filed Under: Decor, Home, Uncategorized Tagged With: decor, home

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  1. Rebecca says

    January 28, 2019 at 5:17 pm

    Do you remember where you purchased the glass bottles for your wedding? I really like the assortment and style of the them!

    Reply
    • Maria Gavin says

      January 28, 2019 at 5:52 pm

      My florist found them! I tried searching for them all over the internet and they are HARD to come by because they are a wholesale item. This website might help, especially if you have a floral connection. https://www.directfloral.com/p-453063895-syndicate-sales-clear-vintage-glass-bottle-collection.aspx

      Reply
  2. Valerie Laven-cooper says

    February 9, 2019 at 10:40 pm

    Thanks for the rothys review. I would love The $20 discount code emailed to me!

    Reply
    • Maria Gavin says

      February 10, 2019 at 12:16 pm

      Hi Valerie – I just sent a link your way via email that will save you $20 on your first Rothy’s purchase. Happy shopping!

      Reply
  3. Valerie Laven-cooper says

    February 10, 2019 at 1:53 pm

    I did not receive the link for the $20 Rothys discount coupon

    Reply
    • Maria Gavin says

      February 11, 2019 at 6:27 am

      Oh no! I just sent you another link via email. Hopefully this one will go through :)

      Reply
  4. Jenna says

    February 11, 2019 at 12:55 pm

    Hi, I hope you will take this as constructive criticism, but those window panes on your fireplace give a very off and weird look.. You already have an overabundance of windows and glass panes in such a small space and then you decided to add even more window panes!! A very cheap decorating option on a budget, go to a thrift store find some big vases and spray paint them according to your décor.

    Reply
    • Maria Gavin says

      February 11, 2019 at 5:17 pm

      Hi Jenna! That’s the thing about decorating with what you already have – it’s not quite perfect. Luckily, we’ve gotten pretty good at making the best of not quite perfect in our living room. I’m not really one for spray painted decor, but I might keep my eye out for a great deal on some interesting vintage art or perhaps a nice antique mirror next time I go to a vintage fair.

      Reply

 Rob and Maria from Crazy Together

A nerd and a perfectionist fall in love.
This is our story.

Rob's a self-proclaimed nerd, Maria is a fashion-conscious stay at home mama, Dessa the super-silly big sister and baby Harvey makes us a family of four.

We are so glad you stopped by. Grab a coffee and stay a while. We have a lot to share.

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