Neglected Bookshelf Puts Her Tea Party Dress On

Felicity Wallace
by Felicity Wallace
This sad, neglected bookshelf stared at me forlornly from its spot on the thrift store floor. Everyone else had looked at her and shuddered. She had sat there for months. Filthy, broken, embarrassed. If only someone would take her home. This girl needed a home and my daughter needed a bookshelf.
The other day I went thrifting at one of my favorite stores, Savers! I found, what I believe is, a bookshelf (It might have been used for a tv?). It has lovely trim, although most of it is loose and falling off. Packaging tape is holding the trim on around the top. 😂 I examined it thoroughly and decided it was worth buying with the discount. Since it had an orange tag it was 50% off and I got to take it home for $4! Isn't it horrendously dirty and broken!? (It looks worse in real life). It is disgusting but that makes for an amazing transformation.
This girl needed some serious repair work. I took it all apart, then used wood glue and nails to reattach everything. It also needed lots of wood putty and sanding. I removed the back of the bookshelf to do something fancy to it!
THIS is my daughter's dream bedroom. I made her jewelry box over to match this room (see my other posts). I used this picture as inspiration for her bookshelf makeover as well.
Here she is all finished! Doesn't she look like she is ready for a sweet afternoon tea party?! I used a mint green paint color called "Sublime Lime" (my daughter chose the color). On the top and back of the bookshelf I used a fabric that I had on hand. I used mod podge to attach the fabric and then used Polycrylic in Semi Gloss to seal the whole dresser.
Felicity Wallace
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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  • Monika Monika on Aug 29, 2016
    Did you poly over the fabric too? I have the same piece covered in primer right now!
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