Fireplace Makeover With Books

I've been participating in a One Room Challenge, along with a ton of other interior designers and bloggers. We each have 6 weeks to make over one room of our choosing. This is week four and I'm making some progress!

The room I chose is a living room in my daughter's rented dorm house that she shares with three other girls. This is the before shot below. Can you believe how dark it was?

But it has so much character, I knew I could do something with it, without spending a fortune. So far I have painted over that dark wall with white paint and filled the fireplace with books. It's a real fireplace but the girls have no intentions of ever using it.

They also adopted a cute little cat that was getting into it, so filling the fireplace with books, also serves to keep the kitty out of there. I picked up most of the books from my local antique store which sells them from .25 - $1.00 each. I also had a lot of my own books and some from family members, so I didn't have to buy them all.

Only two weeks left until the full final reveal!

Original article and pictures take http://www.hometalk.com/10892212/fireplace-makeover-with-books site