DIY Nursery Bookcase!

so we were going to go out and buy a bright colored bookcase for baby j's nursery but then DJ's parents had an old one they were going to give to goodwill/recycle - so we decided to fix their old one up instead as a fun weekend project!  I love the way it turned out and as promised, here are the DIY instructions for "up-cycling" an old bookcase for a nursery - or any type of room with different color paint and patterned paper.

Supplies Needed:

• Sandpaper 
• Primer 
• Paint
• Paint brush(es)
• Mod Podge
• Scrapbook paper 
• Paper cutter [not necessary but makes cutting squares out easier if you want to tile paper]

Step 1: Sand down the bookcase and shelves

Step 2: Spray down with primer - the Kilz kind the Home Depot man recommended was awesome, though it's definitely some strong stuff so if you're preggo and asthmatic like I am - you should probably have a special helper do it for you [thanks DJ]. Let the Kilz dry for an hour before moving on to Step 3.

Step 3: Paint the bookcase and shelves. Pretty self explanatory. :)

Step 4: While the paint dries, prep your scrapbook paper. We measured the bookcase interior and realized that four inch squares would fit best across the width of the bookcase. I got the papercutter out and cut our 12x12 scrapbook paper out into 4x4 squares. Clearly, you could do this by hand - or use the larger squares, a large sheet of fabric, or just paint a different color. Personally, I loved the tiled look that the smaller squares created.

Step 5: Mod Podge the back of the bookcase and the back of the paper, then cover the paper with mod podge [due to sticky fingers and lack of special helpers I did not get any pictures of this part of the process, oops].

Step 6: Put one more coat of mod podge over the paper and make sure that all pieces of paper are smoothed out. Let dry completely before putting shelves back in.

Step 7: Put the shelves back in and enjoy! We had to sand-down the shelves and touch-up a few spots after putting the shelves back in due to them being an "exact fit" before. Just be prepared to do this too!

isn't it cute?

such an easy and inexpensive way to personalize a bookcase to your needs!

can't wait to fill it with books and goodies for our sweet baby girl!