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Easy DIY Wallpaper Backed Bookcase

I am sharing an easy DIY wallpaper project that anyone can accomplish!

I’m not going to lie.

I’m pretty excited about today’s DIY project because it was an absolute first experience for me… my very first project using wallpaper.

Have you done a wallpapering project before? Well, this wasn’t just any ol’ wallpaper project because I got to use ‘repositionable’ wallpaper. No messy glues. No fuss. No muss. (What is muss anyhow??).

And I must tell you, I am absolutely smitten with how it turned out. I am already plotting other possible areas that I can incorporate some beautiful wallpaper into our home.

Easy DIY Wallpaper Backed Bookshelf graphic.
If you have been following along on this DIY challenge, then you might remember that I tackled a corkboard project for our boys’ shared bedroom with my FABRIC last week.

This challenge has been awesome for pushing me to try to finish up their bedroom space. I would say that I am now almost officially finished. I have two sewing projects left to go with the remainder of my fabric from last week. I want to make some extra large shams for their room and they desperately need a new window treatment…

Anyhow, let’s get back on track talking about this week’s challenge: WALLPAPER.

I was super thrilled when Shauna told us that we got to work with Spoonflower for this challenge. Have been over to visit them before? Such amazing designs- and you can have them printed in fabrics or on wallpaper {or even gift wrap!!}. You can even upload your own design and have it printed as a fabric or wallpaper. Seriously. I’m not telling stories. But if you aren’t feeling up to the design aspect, they have an absolutely incredible selection of designs to choose from.

I chose Gold Arrows by Sparrowsong. I love this soft design; the colours are so fresh and beautiful…kind of a yellow gold that ombres into a darker gold throughout the pattern.

I started out with these materials:

One standard roll of Gold Arrows Peel and Stick (repositionable) Wallpaper from Spoonflower, a pencil and a straight edge, a measuring tape, and scissors.

The wallpaper that is white with gold arrows.


This project was ridiculously easy for me because the width of the bookshelf perfectly matched the width of the wallpaper roll. Luck or serendipity, I suppose. But either way, it meant that I only had to measure the height of each section of the bookshelf, and then measure, draw a line, and cut the wallpaper into strips that would fit the correct height between each shelf. First I cut off the bottom 1/2 inch unprinted strip.

Cutting a strip of wallpaper.
Then I just measured in three spots and marked it with a pencil, lined up my straight edge and drew a line connecting all the spots…

Marking out the wallpaper where to cut.
Then cut along the pencil line with my scissors…

Cutting along the pencil line of the wallpaper.
Peel the patterned front off of the back of the wallpaper…

Lining up the wallpaper onto the bookshelf.
And then lined it up with the top edge of the section of the bookcase and press it gently down. It truly is repositionable and you can peel it up easily and readjust it if necessary.

Positioning the wallpaper into place.
The whole process was super easy and it went up really quickly…

The wallpaper on the white bookshelf.
Done! I’m pretty much geeky giddy about how cute I think it looks so now I am going to show you a ridiculous number of pictures to demonstrate my love for it.

Up close picture of the white bookshelf with the wallpaper on it.

Children's books on the bookshelf.

A small toy truck, and a map on the bookshelf.

A boat propeller is on the bookshelf.

Here’s a little comparison for ya… just because my heart beats faster for a good ol’before and after.

The before and after wallpaper bookshelves side by side.

Cute, right? What a quick and easy way to give your bookcase a whole new look!

Want to remember this idea?

Dress up a bookcase poster.

My fellow  One Item Challengers all hit it outta the park on this one, too.

Check out these amazingly beautiful projects…

6 wallpaper project ideas poster.

 Wallpaper Canvas Art by So Much Better With Age

Powder Room Wallpaper by Satori Design for Living

 Wallpaper Backed Bookcase by The Happy Housie

 Bathroom Makeover by Craftberry Bush

Faux Birchbark Centerpiece by Fynes Designs

 Fancy Wallpaper Lined Envelopes by AKA Design

I’m kinda bummed that the One Item Challenge is over! It was such fun challenging myself to work with a specific item…and great to see how many different ways that my fellow challengers could interpret an item.

Thanks so much to Shauna from Satori Design for Living for organizing and hosting this whole thing!

What do you think? Do you hope to tackle a wallpaper project any time soon?

I love how mine turned out so much that I want to try doing a small room in some wallpaper….

Maybe I should wait until after the holidays?!?

 

 

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20 Comments

  1. I realize your wallpapered bookshelf post is old but I have a question. I appears the back of your bookshelf, prior to applying wall pape,r was not smooth … maybe had seams in the boards? I plan to wall paper the back of coat cubbies with removable wall paper but I am concerned because they have individual boards on the back therefore seams. I am trying to figure out if they seams will be visible after covering in wall paper.

    1. It did have very light seams (as in not deep) and it still worked well – so I think it depends how deep the seams are.

  2. Have you had any problems with the wallpaper sticking? I am thinking about doing this to a bookshelf in my classroom (inside and outside), but am afraid it’s going to fall off. Any tips or suggestions would be much appreciated. Thank you!

    1. Hi Nichole! No – it has stayed completely in place. It is a pretty good quality wallpaper and the reposition-able adhesive seems to work really well. In the past I have used pretty contact paper in my classroom – and it looks great but definitely leaves a sticky mess when you peel it off later so that is another option to consider.

  3. It turned out so great. So hard picking just one pattern, wasn’t it? I’ll have to try the peel and stick next time! Thanks for playing along. It was fun to see what everyone did each week. Now, take a break!

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