Bookshelf makeover - How to add curtains to bookshelf

Some of you might know that we moved from Newyork to North Carolina and for those who do not know, it is going to be 3 weeks since we moved . We are currently in furniture hunting mode and we found a good deal for two book shelves in a garage sale. It was not too bad in condition but had few holes that the owner said he drilled for the cords to pass through. We thought we could tackle those holes and bargained both the shelves for $20 (Pretty good deal, right?) . The person said he will deliver it for free which was another reason why we said, yes. But ideas for makeover already started pouring in my mind and I got two rolls of contact paper from dollar tree while coming back home. It took a couple of days for the person to deliver the bookshelf. To the surprise, contact paper I got wasn't enough for the bookshelf and I needed two more. You know what I could find the same pattern anywhere in the dollar tree ( I tried nearly four different ones). Finally, I got a new roll from the target.

Again, the same happened with the fabric. I had a color and pattern in my mind but when I was searching for it in the fabric store my husband showed me the Llama pattern fabric and I couldn't say no. I was in a dilemma for sometime as I had a totally different idea in my mind and now I can't settle for this fabric even though it is cute. But at last, I settled for Llama which I liked to say it as "Lalama" :P I have no regrets as it turned out great than expected. Lets see how.

Materials Required :

Americana decor chalky finish paint
Contact paper
Fabric for curtains
Sewing machine
Varnish
Paint brushes
Nails
Hammer
Curtain rod
Curtain holdbacks(optional)
Painter's tape

Step 1: Disassemble the shelf and wipe it clean with all purpose cleaner.
Step 2: Paint 2 coats of Americana decor chalky finish for the whole shelf expect for the back portion. In some places, it took three to four coats to mask the stains that were already there.

You can see the color difference of shelves with(Bottom) and without a coat of white paint (top)

Step 3: Once the paint is dry, attach the contact paper to the back portion of both the shelves. I just used a piece of paper folded in thirds to block the holes while sticking the contact paper. For the more detailed procedure of how to stick the contact paper, you can see here. 

Step 4: As I thought the fabric I got to make curtains for this bookshelf(Llama printed fabric) had many colors and the bookshelf seemed to be too plain.To bring a balance, I decided to create a pattern on the trim of the bookshelf. For this, I used washi tape(That is what I had on hand) but you can use painter's tape. I made a pattern similar to chevron(as the trim was small for a whole chevron pattern

) as the fabric had chevron in it. 

Step 5: Paint the pattern in desired colors. I used 3 to 5 coats of acrylic paint for the triangles and gray chalky finish paint which had leftover from Dressing table makeover for chevron pattern. I used black sharpie paint pen to outline the pattern on the trim. Completed it with a coat of varnish(Soft touch varnish from Americana decor) 

Step 6: Now it is time for curtains, the whole idea for curtains is that I had all my machines (silhouette machines, sewing machine, laminator) on the table top in my previous craft room and it gets covered in dust quite often so I thought if I cover this shelves with curtains I can use them to store my machines and also prevent them from dust. For this, I hammered nails into each corner of the trim to make curtain rod. 

Step 7: To make the curtain rod itself, I used the materials I had in hand to make as curtain rod but if you are buying stuff mainly for this I advise you to buy some strong and thick wire to act as a rod or a curtain rod itself. Here, I folded a leather cord to form a loop and secured it by winding a piece of wire. Repeated the same on the other side.

Step 8: To sew curtains, I just folded 1 inch to create a passage for curtain rod on the top and stitched. Folded and stitched the sides & bottom as I did here. Once I put the curtains, the rod sagged a little bit, so I hammered a thumb tack in the middle to give a support. (I did not want a nail in the middle so opted for thumb tack, sagging problem solved!) 

Step 9 : Still one more thing to do but it is optional, to keep the curtains away you need a curtain holdbacks. For this, I hammered a nail on the sides and used a bulky rubber band which I purchased while trying to figure out how to make this Camera lens buddy. Surprising how things this like this come in handy in a way you never imagined. That's it !! The colorful and cute bookshelf is now ready to hold all my craft supplies. 

Hope this post inspires you for your next makeover. If you have access to sanding machine you can sand it before painting furniture with stains as I did not have one (or the proper place to do) I used a normal sand paper to do it but it did not help very well. As the chalky finish paint can be used for the surfaces without sanding it helped me to mask the stains.Let me know if you need  any clarifications or suggestions in the comments below.

Do you like this makeover? If you have handled this, what would you do differently? Share with me in the comments below. As always I will be happy to hear from you. If you implement this idea and want to share a picture with me? Please do so in any of the social links mentioned above in this website(Top right corner).

Some other makeover project that you might like:

Kitchen Cabinet Storage Makeover

Thrift Store Table Makeover

Dressing Table Makeover with Chalky Finish paint

Floor Lamp Makeover