Repurposed Bookshelf
by
Keri Johnson
6 Materials
$30
2 Hours
Easy
This repurposed bookshelf was the perfect statement piece for my home office renovation. I was going for a warm, vintage style, and I couldn’t be happier with the result. I’m hoping this project inspires you to take a fresh look at used or discarded items and see how you can make them beautiful!
Since storage is a premium in any home office, I was looking to create something stylish and functional for above my desk. Taking a look through my furniture stash (I refinish furniture and have a large stock-pile!), I came across this bookshelf. At this point, the best thing about it was that I got it for free.
Although petite (24”w x 48” h) and the perfect depth (10” deep), it wouldn’t fit above my desk in the vertical, traditional sense. But once I placed it on its side, I was convinced! Having recently finished this two-tone storage hutch for my office, I decided to mimic the paint colors and style and do a combination of paint and natural wood.
After painting the interior of the bookshelf the same gray as used on the hutch, I drilled holes into the top portion to allow for an added touch: sisal rope! (Each room in my house has some sort of rope accent - whether it be on a lantern, wall decor, or on a clock-face. Small touches like this are subtle, but give the rooms a sense of cohesiveness.)
Truth be told, this part was a pain! I never expected this rope to be so hard to cut! And once cut, it was really tough to push through the holes I drilled. (I made the size of the holes almost exact because I wanted a loop to stick up on the top, and if the space were too big, the bottom knots would sag down.)
Last (and crucial) step: finding studs! My husband hung the shelf on the wall by drilling straight through the back and into the studs. As with anything heavy, we weren’t taking any chances this would fall off of the wall.
To finish it off, I added IKEA storage boxes and personalized the spaces with some of my favorite decor. I was looking for unique, and I got it! I’m so glad that I kept that free shelf!!
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Comments
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4 of 64 comments
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Clever. Looks great
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Thank you!!
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Great outside the box thinking and repurposing, plus it’s very attractive
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Thank you so much!!
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Frequently asked questions
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What purpose do the ropes serve?
I have a table where someone put something hot and the spot swelled and bubble up. How do I redo.
Just a thought, I'm wondering if matching glass cabinet doors would work to match the other piece?