Styling shelves {our new home}

I haven't been around for a while, but it is good to be back.  I've got lots of fun new projects on my list of 'to dos' that I can't wait to get to.  Soon after we moved into our new home I immediately got to work at making our space feel like us.  Some things I'm taking a bit more time on, but there were two spaces I wanted to fill up and design quick.  They were the space behind our toilet and the wall between my kids room and the hallway.  Both spaces were blank slates.

The way that our bathroom is set up is a bit awkward.  I hope to some day knock out a wall to make it a grand space, but for now it is working just fine.  But because the vanity and sink are in a separate area, it didn't allow for any accessible storage for toilet paper, towels, etc.  Here is the before (try not to cringe, cause the blue toilet seat was 'awesome!')

So bad right?!  And the millions of towel racks that the previous owners had was almost comical.  And here is the after so far...

I'll save the rest of the room for when that's complete.

I know so many of you find this post from Pinterest, so welcome to you all.  I've once again updated these bathroom shelves and wanted to share a new visual with you all that I feel is much more PINWORTHY haha.  

and here is the post I recently did sharing more of this space. Enjoy!

(Update: We've updated a bit of this bathroom and can't wait to share the rest)

The other space was the wall between my kids room and hallway.  Here is the before:

Gotta love the previous owners art selection ;)

Here is what I did with the space.  

I have to say, this shelf styling really allowed for a great place to feature some really special photos of our family without adding clutter to the family room.  It also allowed me to disguise the thermostat and door bell placement, which is so randomly placed.

Update:

Since I first posted about my gallery wall I have changed it in many different ways.  This is what I truly love about a picture ledge wall: the freedom to change the pictures, art and arrangement as often as I'd like.  Here are a few of the changes I've made through out the years. 

photo wall  

Halloween photo wall

We are continuing to make progress on little bits and pieces in our home and you can follow along with the tag "New Home".  I'll continue to share as things get completed.