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DIY Colorful Shelf

April 9, 2013 By Erica Deuel 7 Comments

diy colorful shelves

Do you have an old bookcase that you don’t really like anymore, yet you don’t want to part with it? I have had this cute little shelf unit sitting out in my garage for months and months. I didn’t want to part with it, but I knew it needed something (for me to love it enough) to put it in my house.

I love the cute little size of this shelf. I foresee turning it horizontally and using it above a desk or dresser. I knew it definitely needed some updating since the back was peeling off, so that is where I started. I transformed that old piece into a gorgeous new shelf that I just adore, and I want to share with you how I did it.

First off, I kicked off the back board and removed all the nails that were holding it in place.

redo shelf unit

Next, I cut some fill-it strip boards to replace the back of my shelf unit. I needed seven wood strips to fill my back. Depending on the size of your unit you might want to use wider/bigger boards, but you can use this same idea.

Raw Trim PiecesI found some of my favorite colors in my acrylic paint stash and roughly painted my fill-it strip boards. I didn’t worry about making it a nice even thick coat. I wanted it to be rough and a light coat, so stain would fill in the gaps latter.

painted boardsYou might be able to tell in the above picture that I even put two colors on some boards. The idea is just to add some color and life to the old piece!

Next, I sanded the shelf unit and roughly painted it with some white paint. I then stained everything with the same color stain.

Staining painted wood

colorful shelves

I absolutely love the way color and stain work together to create a fun contrast. Beautiful! Finally, I arranged my fill-it strip boards in the order I wanted on the back of my shelf unit, and started hammering them in one at a time.

hammering shelves

back of shelvesMy shelf was then done! I love the way it turned out, and I can’t wait to style it up and use it!

colorful shelf

items to stage a shelfThank you so much for checking out my new shelf!  I hope you all are having a wonderful week!

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Filed Under: DIY Tagged With: book shelves, color, DIY, recycle, redo, shelf

Comments

  1. Sally says

    April 9, 2013 at 8:34 am

    That is really cool! Before you know it, you’re going to be in the furniture making business with a booth at one of those cute antique markets!

    Reply
  2. missinformationblog says

    April 10, 2013 at 6:40 pm

    Erica this is so cute and would be great above a desk!

    Reply
    • ericadeuel says

      April 10, 2013 at 7:58 pm

      Thank you Kelley! I hope to be able to hang it up soon!!

      Reply
  3. Lyuba@willcookforsmiles says

    April 11, 2013 at 12:40 pm

    Love it! I just had to pin it to a great DIY board 🙂

    Reply
    • ericadeuel says

      April 12, 2013 at 12:18 pm

      Thank you so much Lyuba! You’re amazing!

      Reply
  4. Trin @ ramsaygrace (@ramsaygrace) says

    November 12, 2013 at 9:50 pm

    I love the colors you used. They make me happy. 🙂

    Reply
    • ericadeuel says

      December 7, 2013 at 11:52 am

      Thank you Trin!!! I so agree with you. They make me happy too xo, Erica

      Reply

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