Dogs Don't Eat Pizza

Formerly The DIY Bungalow

  • Home
  • About
    • About Karen & the Blog
    • Thirty Days of Gratitude
    • Habitat for Humanity ReStore Workshops
    • Stories from the Bungalow
    • Dogs Who Don’t Eat Pizza
      • Bear, the Original Dog Who Didn’t Eat Pizza
      • Hank Dog
      • Elvis Parsley
  • Project Index
    • DIY
    • Decorating
    • Shopping Tips
    • Repurposing and Upcycling
    • Paint and Color
    • Organizing
    • Cleaning
    • Recipes
    • Gardening
    • Holidays & Seasonal
    • Friday Five
  • Home Tour
    • The 1929 House
    • The First House
    • Room Reveals
  • Advertising
    • Disclosure and Privacy Policy
    • Advertising
  • Media
  • Contact
You are here: Home / DIY / How to Dress Up a Yard Sale Bookcase

How to Dress Up a Yard Sale Bookcase

October 17, 2016 By Karen Cooper 6 Comments

My kids read the same books. They also play the same games and put together the same puzzles.

We don’t have a playroom, so the question becomes: where do we put the shared stuff?

How to Dress Up a Yard Sale Bookcase - thediybungalow.com

Or, rather, where do we put the shared stuff so that I don’t hear, “Mom, get my brother/sister out of my room!”?

As you can see, we still have the lockers in the kids’ hallway. But they’ve filled those with LEGO sets, art supplies, and their own personal stuff (they each have their own locker).

I got this bookcase from a yard sale page on Facebook.

How to Dress Up a Yard Sale Bookcase - thediybungalow.com

The shelves are in the next room – I had already taken them out when I took this “before” pic!

It’s solid wood, painted white, and tall. I knew it’d be perfect for this end of the kids’ hallway. But it was a bit banged up, and, well, boring.

I decided to do something with the back of the bookcase to give it some umph. Some pizzazz.

I thought about doing a fabric backing like I did with our built-ins at our first house. But, since it’s in the kids’ hallway, I wanted it to be easily cleanable.

I thought about paint, but the back was a little rough and worn, and I thought paint might look bad.

Enter: removable wallpaper.

I used removable wallpaper in the inside of this cabinet:

vintage chest with chalk style paint - wallpaper drawer liner - thediybungalow.com

And it worked really well. So, I decided to use it again – this time, with a chevron pattern. But I am OVER chevron, so I changed it up a little. Here’s how.

First, I measured the bookcase and cut the wallpaper to size.

How to Dress Up a Yard Sale Bookcase - thediybungalow.com

Then, I cut the sheet in half, along the point in the chevron pattern.

How to Dress Up a Yard Sale Bookcase - thediybungalow.com

I put the left side of the paper up first. Then I turned the right side and hung it upside down, to create a contrasting V pattern.

How to Dress Up a Yard Sale Bookcase - thediybungalow.com

In other words, instead of the Vs being all black or all white, now they were half black and half white. Make sense?

I did that again for the rest of the back of the bookcase. I used an exacto knife to cut the paper along the bottom shelf for an even edge.

How to Dress Up a Yard Sale Bookcase - thediybungalow.com

I will tell you – this can be a frustrating process. You will get air bubbles in the wallpaper (fixable by just pulling it up and smoothing it out, or cutting a small hole in the bubble with the exacto knife and getting the air out), or the lines won’t line up properly, or something. But this is the benefit of removable wallpaper – it’s easy to fix all those problems!

Here it is – the finished, dressed-up yard sale bookcase:

How to Dress Up a Yard Sale Bookcase - thediybungalow.com

I love this project because:

  1. It’s easy. Removable wallpaper is easy to find and it’s easy to work with. It doesn’t require wallpaper paste or special tools. Just peel off the backing and go.
  2. It’s inexpensive. This roll of removable wallpaper came from Target and cost about $30. Not too bad to transform a piece of furniture – and I didn’t use the whole roll, so I can use the rest of it for something else!
  3. It’s customizable to your style and taste. Don’t like chevron? Change it up! Don’t like black and white? Find wallpaper in a bright color, or a soft color…whatever floats your boat!

How to Dress Up a Yard Sale Bookcase - thediybungalow.com

My kids love the new storage and I love that I’m not refereeing them during playtime. Win!

You might also like:

  • Reclaiming the Dining Room (or "How I regained my sanity during a kitchen reno")
    Reclaiming the Dining Room (or "How I regained my…
  • Splurge or Save, Part 2
    Splurge or Save, Part 2
  • Five Ways to Get Rid of Unwanted Clutter (Friday Five)
    Five Ways to Get Rid of Unwanted Clutter (Friday Five)

Filed Under: DIY Tagged With: Furniture, Storage 6 Comments

About Karen Cooper

Hi! I'm Karen. I call myself a “recovering lawyer” - I traded in my power suits for power tools and a life of DIY adventures. Join me for DIY, home decorating, repurposing and upcycling, and organizing projects and tips as I transform a 1929 Tudor bungalow into our home. I believe in merging old and new to make a house a home.

« Splurge or Save, Part 2
DIY Pennant Banner with Vintage Spools (Swap It Like It’s Hot) »




Comments

  1. gail says

    October 17, 2016 at 4:40 pm

    Karen,

    I love how you changed up the chevron of the wallpaper. Great idea!

    The yard sale bookcase looks so much better!

    gail
    ps pinning

    Reply
    • Karen Cooper says

      October 20, 2016 at 9:05 am

      Thank you, Gail!!!!

      Reply
  2. Ivory says

    October 17, 2016 at 7:13 pm

    You did an absolutely beautiful job here. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
    • Karen Cooper says

      October 20, 2016 at 11:06 am

      Thank you, Ivory!!

      Reply
  3. Christine says

    October 19, 2016 at 5:42 pm

    MEGa gorgeous!!!! PINNED

    Reply
    • Karen Cooper says

      October 20, 2016 at 8:29 am

      Thank you, Christine!!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Hi! I’m Karen. I call myself a “recovering lawyer,” because I turned in my power suits for power tools and a life of DIY. This blog is all about DIY, home decorating, repurposing and upcycling, and organization. I believe in merging old and new to make a house a home.




find projects here!

My Daybed in This Old House Magazine!

Daybed from Old Doors featured in This Old House Magazine
Best of 2016 - Best Blog DIY Category - thediybungalow.com

Disclosure

Dogs Don't Eat Pizza is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.  Dogs Don't Eat Pizza also participates in other affiliate programs.

To see my complete disclosure and privacy policy, click HERE.

About Karen

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. Read More…

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
© Copyright 2012-2021, Dogs Don't Eat Pizza, LLC (formerly The DIY Bungalow LLC).