By Susan Shinn
Salisbury Post
If you’re inspired to do some spring cleaning these days, don’t leave your bookshelves out of the mix.
Local designers Debi Lyerly and Carol McNeely have teamed with Missy Alcorn and Caniche to assist several clients, including Missy. The team “refreshed” some bookshelves at the home she shares with husband Greg.
The Alcorn home was on a Christmastime tour of homes, and Missy wanted the built-in bookshelves to look their best.
“Of course, we went and shopped at Caniche” for accessories, Debi says. “It has been a great resource for us with other clients.”
Missy and Lesleigh Drye are co-owners of Caniche.
Part of organizing bookshelves is knowing what their clients like.
“We knew that friends and family were very important to Missy,” Debi says.
So many pictures of friends and family are sprinkled among the books and accessories.
Adding a bit of greenery or a collectible here or there makes the eye flow to different areas of the bookshelves, Debi explains. “It should reflect the homeowner. Carol and I work well with each other on big projects. It’s good for us to have each other’s eyes.”
A fairly new trend is to hand pictures on the outside molding of the shelves, something Debi and Carol did at the Alcorns’ to a nice effect.
As with closets, everything comes out when Debi and Carol organize a bookcase.
“We try to rearrange and use what clients already have,” Debi says. “But things can get outdated.”
The women recommend using picture frames of similar styles or colors.
“You can enjoy the picture and you’re not distracted by the frame,” Debi says. “You want the picture to jump out, not the frame.”
Books can be positioned straight up or on their sides to create visual interest.
Debi notes, “People tend to forget about their bookshelves, but there’s actually a whole area that addresses this called micro interior design.
“So we’re faux finish painters-slash-micro interior designers.”
Carol adds, “But we like to do macro interior design, too ó big!”
nnnContact Susan Shinn at 704-797-4289 or sshinn@salisburypost.com.