Bringing New Life to a Bookcase

When it came time to decide on what furniture to keep from my parents’ home, it was a difficult task for me. Pretty much every piece of furniture had a fond memory. And if anything, they were pieces that my parents deemed worthy to have in their home.

But there was no bending when it came to my father’s little bookcases.

They sat in his office in the basement and most likely had been pieces of his right from the beginning of his career.  One housed photographs and old books, while the other held some paperwork. Even for my father, these pieces had lost their necessity, after he invested in a large filing cabinet. But he never got around to letting them go, and neither could I.

I knew I wanted to convert the smallest bookcase into a library for my twins. This way they had a piece of ‘history’ from my Dad and I knew it would make me smile seeing it in a place of honour for my boys. My father would have most likely given it to them (he was one of the most giving people I knew, along with my Mama).

So here is what I did:

  1. Cleaned up the wood with a wet cloth and dry towel
  2. Took some of my most beautiful paper from Italy
  3. Cut the paper to size, so it would fit into the back of both library shelves
  4. Added green washi tape to the shelf front (it still looked a little run down, this was a quick solution)

And voila!

I love how it turned out and so do the boys. It’s the perfect height for them, and all the books they can read themselves are at their little fingertips.

I hope you like this makeover. If you want to see another DIY I did with this whimsical paper, you can check out my shelf liners post. Let me know if you have any other makeovers you’d like to see in action.

You may also like

Leave a Comment

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