I have a confession.

I've lived in my house for two and half years and up until Friday my beautiful basement built-ins (one of the reasons why I loved this house) looked like this:

Empty! For over two years. Unbelievable.

When it came time to picking items to put there or even thinking about what they should like, I was just overwhelmed. It was too blank of a canvas.

But as Chris and I prepare to host a couple of holiday gatherings we decided that built-ins could be bare no more. So over Thanksgiving break, I did my best to fill those shelves with Christmas cheer.


Taking a tip from Young House Love, I lined the back of the shelves with some burlap looking wrapping paper for a temporary change. And then just started putting things up there and tinkering with them until I liked their placement.

How I wish I already owned most of the items but there was a little cost associated with this decorating adventure. Thankfully Hobby Lobby, Michaels, and Pier 1 all had great sales and coupons. I also shopped Goodwill and tried to get creative with things I already had - like the green "present" on the top left shelf are just my high school yearbooks wrapped in pretty paper.

Now that the basement is decorated we are officially ready for the holidays - at least decorations wise. Shopping is another story!