fittedshelveslondon, in London such as How I Saved £700 On My Alcove Shelving. {Try it you might like it}Author: Lauren Coleman. Towards the end of the summer, James and I were pretty much flat out working on our snug. I’ll be sharing all the snaps of the nearly finished room next week but for the moment I thought I’d share the bookshelves. A friend was quoted the best part of a grand to create something similar so I thought you might be interested in how we achieved a more budget option for our built-ins spending around £300 instead. I apologise this is a very practical post, however I’ve thrown in a few styling tricks at the bottom for all of you who’ve stopped by for a spot of prettiness. Inspired by a trip to designer Abigail Ahern’s house last year I was keen to try out some dark decorating in this room to really give it a snug, gentlemen’s club kind of vibe. We wanted storage, a TV cabinet and interesting shelving cubbies for all my coffee table books and all on a budget. I don’t ask for much. Stack your books in varying ways; lay some horizontal rather than vertical. You could even go wild and turn out the cover to add interest and a focal area to your shelf Mix in your personality with an eclectic mix of mementoes and treasures. I’ve never smoked in my life but the typography of the ‘tobacco and cigars’ sign from an antique shop really appealed to me. Don’t go for the obvious. My disco ball collection is a bit unexpected and I love how it contrasts against the dark background Add in florals, foliage or organic elements to soften the harder edges of the books Create mini vignettes with varied objects in differing heights to show off your wares. Don’t get me wrong, we saved some cash here but oh my word it took flipping ages. I can see why a chippie would charge so much to do something similar. However I’m pretty proud of what we achieved and it ticks all my boxes so in the long run it was worth all the effort. See you next week with the rest of the reveal. (courtesy of www.rockmystyle.co.uk/saved-700-alcove-shelving/)