Living Room Upgrade - Built-in Bookshelves! {Lots of Photos!}

So like most of you, we've been really busy this summer. We've enjoyed the amazingly long days of summertime in Fort McMurray. We've traveled a bit, enjoyed our backyard and our new hot tub {yay!}, we bought a new truck {double yay!}, explored all the trails in our area on "nature walks" with the kiddos, and spent amazing quality time with family. 

Be sure to follow me on Instagram @mummymaggie to follow along in our day-to-day adventures :)

In all of this fun, we did manage to squeeze in a couple of DIY projects which I promise to post to this here bloggy blog. I guess this is the part of the post where I apologize profusely for being absent for so long. I am sorry. I missed you, my lovely readers. Thanks for understanding that life sometimes veers us of the blog-writing track, but we always come back :)

So without further ado...the Living Room Upgrade! Yes, I did give a bit of a teaser way back in March, and yes, it did take a LONG time to complete the project, but here we are. 

Not to "phone it in", but my "Do-It-Yourself, McMurray" article in the latest YMM Magazine is a feature on this project. Click here to check it out.

Here's the finished result! Ikea cabinets {originally for kitchens and bathrooms} repurposed into built-in bookshelves at a fraction of the cost. We choose sleek, high gloss white cabinets and modern stainless steel handles to set off the look.

This photo is the only one I could find of a "before".  It's from Aviva's 2nd birthday party, hence the festive pink balloons :) I love how this photo really shows how this space was a blank canvas, just waiting to be "Mummy Maggie-fied!"

An "in progress" shot, showing how quickly the awesome cabinets transformed the space as they were put up. I also want you to check out the seating. I originally had our two couches facing each other because I thought I was maximizing space. Oh, how wrong I was...see below :)

A close-up of the cabinets going up. Adair was a trooper to manage to configure these Ikea cabinets. Did you see the number of boxes from my teaser photo?! Ikea MADNESS!

Here's another "during" pic. I love how Ginger is just chilling on the couch with all the DIY craziness going on around her.

Here it is! After months {yep, it took months of stolen late nights after our kids went to bed -- and they go to sleep LATE!} of hard work -- our built-in bookshelf project is complete. We are so pleased with the results. I love the cabinets, but I especially love the tile work. It's thin strips of Carrera marble on 12 x 12 sheets. We decided to hang it vertically to maximize the height of the 9-foot ceilings, and then add strips of stainless steel tiles for visual interest. It looks amazing!

Here's another angle which highlights the change of the living room furniture configuration. This new layout created so much more space because it's open to the kitchen, so the couch at the bottom right of the photo distinguishes the space {and highlights the AMAZING chevron throw I scored at Urban Barn!}. It actually looks a bit different now, mostly because I can't leave well enough alone. But that's another post for another day :)

This last photo is a close-up of the cabinets. Adair truly put a lot of work into these babies, especially around the crown. He *had* to buy the right saw to cut the trim around the crown moulding. You can also see a bit of the close-up of fab tile work too. Thank you, Big A!

So...what do you think of our living room transformation? Was it work the wait?