Dressing Up a Bookcase

In the process of decorating our office space, I purchased two Espresso-colored bookcases from Target. The simple design was appealing to me. However, as soon as I placed them in the office space, I knew I needed to “dress” them up.

My first step was to paint the bookcases white, so they could contrast nicely off the deep red walls. My dear friend helped me prime them with Glidden Gripper Grey paint. After the primer was set, we used a fine grit sandpaper to even out the drip marks from the primer. Next we added three coats of Behr White Fur paint to ensure coverage of the white. *If I were to paint over veneer again, I would suggest painting two coats of primer for better coverage instead of one. 

*This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my disclosures here. 

I still wanted to add a little more style to the bookcases, so I decided to add fabric panels to the back. I used the following materials: white duct tape, fabric, pair of scissors, foam board, x-acto knife, plastic bowl, cutting board, and measuring tape.

I started by measuring the width and height of each shelf. Once I knew the measurements that I needed, I laid out my fabric so that the patterns would match on both bookcases. I cut each piece of fabric with an extra five inches on each side.

I cut out the foam board with the x-acto knife to match the measurements of each bookshelf. After this, I tested the cut foam board piece in the bookshelf. *You may have to bend the foam board in half to get it into its space for the first time. Once I knew the foam board fit the space well, I placed the foam board on the back of the fabric. From here, I wrapped the fabric around the foam board (adhering with duct tape), like you would wrap a present. *I would suggest cutting the duct tape in advance and placing the cut pieces on the edge of a plastic bowl for easy retrieval. I started off taping down in the middle, and then worked my way out so that the fabric stretched in the appropriate places and it didn’t mess up my pattern.

From here, I used the leftover foam board piece from the first foam board as a template. And you repeat the process until you have your desired look.

With this project you can change your fabric out with whenever you would like!