With my recent craft room redo, I had a small budget and so tried to shop my house for pieces I could re-purpose to use in the space. There was a little closet area where I wanted to store unused home decor and needed some shelving. I found two sad bookshelves residing in our family room that needed some love, but would fit perfectly in the space.
I am a little embarrassed to admit those were in our house. I think they came with Jared when we got married. I had ignored them sitting there full of books for so long that I hadn’t realized how ugly they were.
So, how do you update a cheap laminate bookshelf without sanding or spending a ton of money?
Cover stain primer my friends. A couple coats of this stuff and paint away!
DIY Bookshelf
1. Carefully pry off backing. Mine was attached with staples, so I made good use of a butter knife and removed the cardboard like back piece.
2. Apply two coats of primer letting each one dry completely. I used a brush in the corners and a low-nap roller for the rest.
3. Spray paint using multiple light coats.
If you’re lucky and your family is on a father/son camping trip you’ll do it all in pjs and bare feet in the garage and end up looking like this. Yikes!
4. Cover the backing with your favorite patterned fabric or economical choice wrapping paper. I used a glue stick around the edges where the bookshelf would attach and spray adhesive on the rest.
5. Wrap the paper/fabric around the edges of the boards and secure with glue.
6. Have a friend hold the back in place as you re-attach it. I used a nail gun, but a staple gun would work just as well.
Move them in to place and admire your handiwork! It has been so nice having a storage area for all my home decor items.
If you like this, come see the rest of my craft room makeover.
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