One of the first things I organized when we moved into the new house was our big white bookcase. This piece usually resides in the office and is a great place to store all of my crafting supplies. I load it up with baskets so that the mess is confined and then I cram sequins and ribbons into every available space. Unfortunately the doorways at the new house are too short… the white bookcase just won’t fit through! As a result the white bookcase found a new home in the living room and instead of boxes I filled it with books and decor. It took several hours to fill every shelf with our books and knick-knacks and while I love how they look the dark books make each shelf into a tiny black hole! Before, the white baskets reflected light and made the entire shelf light and airy. Now the shelves were filled with dark books that were difficult to see from across the room.
I tried to brainstorm ideas to brighten the bookcase. I thought of candles but lighting individual candles would be tedious and time consuming. I felt that while it would happen on special occasions or when we had guests, opening the door to light 5 or 6 candles just wouldn’t happen every day. Not to mention unless I put a candle on each shelf I would have a mix of light candle lit shelves and dark cavernous ones… ick. Plus with real candles there was always the danger of fire with enclosed shelves. So I started to research flame-less votive candles and came up with these
from amazon.com.
They come in packs of nine and cost $21.03. Better yet they can be controlled with a REMOTE CONTROL, so when I pass by in the morning all I have to do is click a button to light up the entire bookcase! During the day they light up the shelves to avoid that black hole feel, and at night they serve as an extra light. Nothing drastic but they’re nice for a movie night, when you don’t want to use the overhead or task lighting. Take a peak! The picture below is during the day, and if you scroll a little further down you can see the effect in the evening!
I love how easy they are to use, and they really do make a difference! The bookcase is so cute with all of the flickering lights at night time. Plus the remote has all kinds of cool features, including a built in timer. Which means if we start a movie at 10 we can hit the 4 hour timer and not have to worry about turning all of the lights off before bed! Not to mention that we bought two packs of these bad boys to fill the entire bookcase (don’t worry y’all I had a gift card) and both sets of votives will work with the same remote! So I have the second one tucked away just in case (I have a tendency to water-board my electronics… just saying). I tend to leave the lights on a steady light set but the hubby loves the candle setting, it lets the light flicker and gives off a romantic vibe.
Each candle takes one of these Lithium Cell CR2450 3V batteries, the pack came with a battery already placed into each candle… plus a back-up for future use. I’ve had the first set burning for about a month now and haven’t had to replace any. The lights are getting dimer than when I started though, so with large amounts of use (about 8-12 hours a day) they may become battery hogs… I suppose we will have to see.
I placed some of the candles in little candle holders or behind books to light the entire shelf, but my favorites can be seen peeking out through knick-knacks on particular shelves. The little whale is a paperweight I picked up in Hawaii, he glows in the dark so the candle light really glows through him instead of behind him. Likewise I have several bird figurines or statues, placing a candle behind each one allows the light to peak through the wings, giving off a lacework pattern.
This post contains affiliate links… for products I use in my own home and love!
I hope y’all loved these little candles as much as I do. I know it’s a little thing, but they make a huge difference in the room. Say bye-bye black hole, hello sunshine! What about y’all, are there any other bookcases out there in need of a “light” re-model?
Linking up with: Savvy Southern Style
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