I’m a big ol’ chicken.
No – not that kind of chicken.
I have been thinking about painting the back of our built-in bookcases in the living room for a while now. But I could never do it. The built-ins are custom-built and I just couldn’t stomach the idea of painting them and then hating it.
Then I had an idea…
What if I used fabric?
Then it wouldn’t be permanent! No painter’s regret!
As I’ve always said, DIY is a logic game, so I had to figure some things out:
1. How would I hang the fabric so that it would stay flat and un-wrinkled?
2. How would I hang the fabric so that it wouldn’t tear on a nail or staple?
3. If I attached the fabric to a board or something like that, the board would have to be thin enough to fit behind the shelves.
4. What kind of fabric? Nothing too heavy, nothing too light. I didn’t want anything with straight horizontal lines because the shelves are horizontal; I didn’t want anything with straight vertical lines because many of the books would make vertical lines. I needed something not too vertical, not too horizontal.
OK – here’s what we started with…our living room built-ins:
Before – Left Side of the Living Room
Before – Right Side of the Living Room
Not bad, but a bit blah. The shelves seemed cluttered to me, and needed a pop of color.
How did I do it?
Here’s how to brighten boring built-ins with fabric:
First, measure the back of the built-in. Then measure it again. Trust me. Measure twice, cut once. Trust me. (I measured once and was off by an inch and it cost me another trip to the fabric store and extra fabric.)
Once I had measured the back of the built-in, I cut poster board to size.
What?
Poster board?
I’m not kidding. Poster board. I used just regular white poster board. Got it at the grocery store.
Because the space at the back of the built-in was 54 1/4 inches high, I needed more than one piece of poster board, so I connected the cut pieces together with duct tape.
Right, duct tape. This just keeps getting better, right?!?
I used white duct tape, because it was the same color as the poster board and I didn’t want the tape to show through the fabric.
After I cut the poster board, then I cut the fabric. I added at least half an inch to each side so that I could fold it around the poster board. Note: the fabric was 54 inches wide; the built-ins were 23 3/4 inches wide on the left and 25 1/4 on the right. That meant that I could just cut the fabric in half and get a good width.
I centered the poster board on the cut fabric. I then attached the fabric to the poster board, again, with duct tape.
You can see I did this on the guest room bed. Then I remembered that I had a cutting board I could use that would make things much, much easier!
I bought the cutting board a while ago at Goodwill for 99 cents. It’s in great shape…
…especially since it’s from 1967. How cool is that?
But I digress.
Once I attached the fabric to the poster board, I made sure the fabric was even and lined up, and then it was time to hang it up.
I used a staple gun to hang it. The back of the built-in is plywood and the poster board and fabric were relatively thin. I figured a nail would be too much for the board and fabric.
The staples are small and would be hidden by either the shelves or the books to be placed on the shelves.
I then made the other three poster fabric panels, making sure to line up the fabric so that it looked even with the built-in next to it. Depending on what kind of pattern you use, you could make this easier (or harder). The chevron pattern wasn’t too hard to line up.
Here’s the finished product – first, without books and other stuff on the shelves:
Then, all finished:
Left Side – Finished
Right Side – Finished (Note: The ceiling isn’t level; it’s not the built-in.)
My Favorite Shelf
I got this sign at a thrift store for $5. The upcycled materials rooster came from a local store (no longer in business).
I loved this fire truck toy…from a local consignment store.
There’s the big picture…I love the pop of color the fabric gives. Perfect.
Glad Hank got a nap today.
The great thing about this project is that anyone can do it. If you live in a rental, you could do this and just take them down when you move. Easy peasy.
So, just to compare…
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
A "recovering lawyer," I turned in my power suits for power tools and a life of DIY. I believe in merging old and new to make a house a home.
What a great change Karen! I love what it does to the bookcases and love how you put it together… I don’t think I would have thought of it.
Thanks, Holly! It was a fun project (minus the extra trip to the fabric store!) and I love the color. Thanks again!
What a fantastic idea! It looks fabulous! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Kimberly!
Karen, this loos fantastic and I love your fabric and how you put it together. SO loving your vintage cutting board, it is awesome! Thanks for sharing, pinning and have a wonderful weekend! Oh and going to share on my FB page today. 🙂
Thanks, Cindy! Have a wonderful weekend, too!
I love it! It added just the right pop of color and pattern. I’ve learned the hard way to measure twice, cut once! Have a great weekend!
Thanks, Angie! Yes – I usually do measure twice, but for some reason I didn’t here. Duh. Lesson learned. Have a great weekend!
So fun and bright, Karen!
Thanks so much for linking up to support habitat. Good luck and hope to see you back next week!
Thanks, Jocie! Thanks for hosting the link party for such a great cause!
This is so creative! What a great pop of color. I love that it’s a low-committment change and one you can change fairly easily when you want something new. Very clever.
Thanks!
Karen, it looks fantastic! The fabric really makes everything pop. Great job!
Thanks, Sharon!
This is wonderful Karen!! They look fantastic! Pinning and adding to my BufferApp to share on FB & Twitter in a few.
Great job! xoxo
Thanks, Claire! I appreciate it!
looks great!
Thanks, Lindsey!
That is pure brilliance Karen!!! I love it…..I wish I had shelves so I could copy it 🙂 The fact that it is put together with duct tape, make it a perfect project for me! By the way, your pinterest paw print, connects to twitter 🙂
Thanks, Lisa! You could copy it on any bookcase that has removable shelves. Super easy project. Thanks for the tip re the paws – they are big, so you have to hover to make sure they go to the right place. Thanks again!
Love the updated look!
XO
kristin
Thanks, Kristin! xoxo
These look so good. I may try this…:)
Thanks, Julie! It’s so easy once you do one panel…try it and let me know how it goes!
My built-in’s shelves don’t come out and they are built directly into the wall, so there is no space behind them. I love this idea to add a pop of color behind the books, but is there a way to adapt what you did here to my set of circumstances?
Cris – Great question! Absolutely. Just cut the poster board to the size of the opening between the shelves, rather than as one big panel. Then attach them to the back of the shelves the same way. Given that those panels are going to be smaller and lighter, you could attach them with the staple gun (like in the post with the larger panels) or you could even use double-stick tape or hook and loop/Velcro to attach them. Good luck!
I love this idea. I have some built ins in my family room that are driving me crazy. They were not fabulous when we moved in and I painted them, but still don’t love them. This just might be my answer.
Shawna
Excellent! I’m so glad. If you do the project, I’d love to see pics on how it turns out!
Those turned out marvelous. Thanks for all the helpful tips. Posterboard. Brilliant.
Thank you, Allie!
I love this! Now off to find cute fabric!
Excellent! Thank you, Naomi!
First, that’s so stinkin’ cute! Second, can’t believe you used poster board! Who would have thought?! I have a bookshelf I’ve been thinking about adding something to, but wasn’t sure how to do it. Now I know. I’m visiting from the Brag About It link party.
Christy @ Creating a Beautiful Life
Thanks, Christy! I’d love to see pictures of the bookshelf when you finish it (like Dogs Don’t Eat Pizza on Facebook and post pics there)! Thanks for stopping by.
What a great idea! And the fabric is great – very bright and cheerful. I’ll remember this for my playroom.
Thank you, Brenna! This would be a great idea for a playroom!
I really love the way it came out, you did a great job! I saw it on vmg206 brag about it.
Julie from julieslifestyle.blogspot.com
Thank you, Julie! Thanks for stopping by!
It’s a shame you don’t have a donate button! I’d certainly donate
to this fantastic blog! I guess for now i’ll settle for book-marking and
adding your RSS feed to my Google account. I look forward to new updates and
will share this blog with my Facebook group.
Talk soon!