No "lack" of love

We're back from our Ikea trip and I have lots to share. Some great news, other news...not so much. Today, I will stick with the great news:

I am in love.

I have fallen hard for the new shelving we purchased for our dining room. We've completely neglected this room since we moved into our house and it has just been a hodge podge of mismatched furniture, 70's hand me downs, empty walls, and no style. That is, up until today.

Our dining room is quite large and it needs a good amount of furniture to fill it up and give it some life. The problem with this? Furniture is expensive. I've been saving for the last two months for this baby and will hopefully purchase it next month when Pottery Barn has it's friend's and family sale. Oh, Sumner, you make my heart sing and it would be an injustice to eat our Thanksgiving feast on anything other than you.

Ok, back to shelving. We bought three 74" white "Lack" shelves yesterday and they were such a cinch to hang. It took the hubs and I less than 40 minutes to install them. Once they were installed, I did what I do best- shop! I "shopped" around my house and found lots of goodies to decorate the shelves. Gotta love a good deal! Though these pictures don't do the shelves justice, check out the final result:

Don't they just help fill the room without the need of furniture?

In addition to new shelving, we also added a new rug. I've always wanted a knotted jute rug and I'm so glad I convinced Paul that it was the right choice. It helps add texture to the room and brings out the bamboo roman shades.

Anyone else have any creative solutions to fill up a large space without using furniture? Do you think we need a piece of furniture under the shelves or are they substantial by themselves? I'd love to hear some of your ideas!