How did you do that?
How did you do that?
Over the past month or so I have received quite a few emails asking about the bookshelves in my studio. Most people think the treatment in the back of the shelves is a wallpaper, but it’s actually a fabric. When I started the design process for my office, bringing in touches of pink was on the top of my list.
When I painted the room, I decided to paint the entire bookshelf the same color. After bringing in the furniture and changing out the lighting I needed to focus on accessories and bringing in the pink accent color. I headed over to one of my favorite fabric shops in Dallas to find inspiration. City Craft Dallas is full of modern and chic fabrics and the prices are extremely affordable. The moment I spotted this fabric, I knew I had to bring it into the space.
This was one of the easiest projects to do and very affordable. The total project cost was under $30 with fabric! I have seen beautiful bookshelves with accent paint and wallpaper in the back and knew this was the direction I wanted to take.
First, I stopped by one of my local craft stores to pick up foam core, but ended up snagging the tri-fold project boards on sale for $1.99 each. The width was almost the exact measurement I needed so I grabbed a bottle of fabric glue and headed back to the office. The boards are not as ridged as foam core but the price and size sealed the deal. I think the shelves look like a million bucks and when I am ready to change them out, it will be easy to do.
After cutting the boards 1/8″ smaller than the back of each shelf (to allow for the fabric), I began to line up the pattern and cut the pieces out. I cut the fabric 1-1/2″ wider that the board to allow for a good wrap.
I applied the fabric glue and secured the corners and edges with blue painters tape. After letting the glue dry, I placed the pieces in the back of each shelves. The fit is snug so I didn’t need attach them to the back wall.
And from simple to stunning in less than an hour, here is an image of what the shelves looked like before…and after.
Now that the back panels were in, I gathered all of my accessories and started to fill the shelfs. I have a ginormous pile of magazines that I can’t let go of so I stacked them on one of the lower shelves for easy grabbing. I added books with pink text as well as personal photographs with pink in them. I love the way everything came together.
I was feeling very motivated that afternoon and decided to take my first shot at recovering a lamp shade. This one was square so all I had to do was wrap one piece of fabric around it. Cutting the fabric the right size to fold over and glue was the tough part of this project. I applied a spray adhesive to the back of the fabric and applied the piece to the shade. Wrapping the edges was a challenge but with a little patience I managed to get everything glued down.
The finished look! I hope I have answered all of you questions and inspired you to update your bookshelves! Thank you for all of your comments!
