How To Update A Book Shelf Without Paint Or Commitment

Melody
by Melody
$50
2 Hours
Easy
I bought this gorgeous mid century modern book shelf ages ago. I fell in love with it instantly and knew I couldn't bear to paint it. After living with the shelf for awhile, I found the 'stuff' I put inside the cabinet got lost and it needed a change to brighten it up a bit. I found a Royal Design Studios stencil I liked called the Khanjali Ikat stencil and felt this would be a perfect fit for my MCM cabinet.
However, I still couldn't get past my fear of painting this piece. So instead of permanently changing or painting the inside of the piece, I used a $1 a sheet foam core board from the dollar store, my Royal Design Studios Khanjali Ikat stencil and my favorite gold spray paint.
I now have a beautifully edited and updated cabinet, without any paint or damage being done to the cabinet. If I decide tomorrow that I want to change up the cabinet again, it's a quick and easy fix.
More details on the original blog post.
Here's the cabinet before....nothing stand outs, it's a jumbled mess with no wow factor
Everything kind of blends into the background.
My Royal Design Studios Khanjali Ikat stencil
My 6 sheets of foam core board from the dollar store.
After, edited, pretty and a lot brighter. NO harm was done to the cabinet, the foam core boards are cut to size and placed in the back without being attached to the cabinet. They can be removed without any damage.
Melody
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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3 of 68 comments
  • Joan Joan on Apr 20, 2015
    Good for you for saving a piece of beauty. There are so many pieces of old furniture that are destroyed and the history with it. In the 70's antiquing kits were all the rage. It is good to read the comments and realize there are others who like to see the history preserved, but it is risky to express these thought in comments, even when said very politely as one's personal view. You may have saved more beautiful pieces
    • Nancy Spencer Carlson Nancy Spencer Carlson on Apr 21, 2015
      @Joan Truth. Why must we parrot the 'wonderful/amazing/love it!' line in comments? And only make those types of comments. What's wrong with saying "you did a technically good job, and if you love it, that's what counts; however, I would have liked it better without the (paint, etc)?"
  • K. Rupp K. Rupp on May 01, 2019

    What a great idea!!!! I love it because I never wanted to paint the inside of a cabinet due to having to commit!! Perfect. I want to try this now! Thank you for the idea!

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