Monday, April 4, 2011

Adding some style with shelf paper

When I was working on the nightstand I bought some striped shelf paper to line the drawers with but in the end I decided against using it because the colors wouldn't work together.  I had eyed the same shelf paper a while ago for lining the back of the corner cabinet in our dining room (posted about here and here) but never got around to it.  So now that I had the paper I thought I'd test out a section and see how it looked.

I first started out with the drawer because if I didn't like how it looked I could just shut the drawer and ignore that it was there.  (After working with it some it is really easy to remove, not like wallpaper so if I had changed my mind it wouldn't have been difficult to remove.)  Here you can see a picture of the drawer:


The shelf paper is a ticking stripe pattern in a turquoisey-grey with thinner white and green stripes.  The green is pretty close in color to the green paint of our walls so it ties everything together pretty nicely.

Next I decided to tackle a bit larger of an area, the back of the cubby in the middle of the cabinet.  Working with the shelf paper was a bit frustrating although I think the stripe pattern did make it a little easier for lining things up and matching edges of side by side sections.  I began at the center edge of the cabinet back, aligning the paper and then working out from there.  The part that tends to be a bit tricky is smoothing out all the air bubbles.  I kept having to pull the paper back and work out the bubbles before moving on to the next section.  If the bubble is relatively small you can use a needle to prick the paper and release the air.

I left a little overhang at the bottom and top of the section I was working on, rather than try to cut everything perfectly before applying the shelf paper as you can see here:


I then used an exacto knife to trim the paper at the top and bottom edges for a nice clean edge:


And here you can see the finished cubby and drawer:


And finally I worked on the larger compartment on top:


Here it is with all our dishes loaded back in:


And a closer view with the light on:


Now we really need to replace the cabinet window with plain glass!:


One of the added benefits of the darker color of the shelf paper is that it makes the cabinet appear deeper than when the back was a plain white.  Not only is it cuter it also seems larger and makes our white dishes stand out more!

For comparisons sake, here is a before picture:


And an after picture:


So that concludes my adventure with shelf paper, there are a lot of cute styles of shelf paper out there, I had no idea!  There are some really cool patterns at Chic Shelf Paper ............ or they have some nice patterns that are less expensive at Orchard Supply Hardware where I found mine :o)


15 comments:

kara@elements-interiors.net said...

THAT is BEAUTIFUL! I LOVE it!
I would LOVE to have you link up to my PARTY! WHASSUP WEDNESDAY!!

And I have a party button you can grab and put on your blog so your friends can come too:)




*ENTER LINKY PAR-TAY Here! *

xoxokara

Linda said...

Thanks Kara! I linked up to your Party!
Linda :o)

LOTCP said...

I really like this! I've got a corner cabinet I inherited from my Mom. Of course it's still in it's natural wood state, but the more I keep seeing furniture painted it's tempts me. I just worry that Mom would roll over in her grave if she knew I painted it HAHA!

Linda said...

Thanks! I'm sure whatever you decide to do will look great and as long as you love it your Mom would be happy.
Linda :o)

Unknown said...

stopping by from thrifty decor chick. Love this! it looks so great! I might have to 'borrow' this idea...

Linda said...

Thanks Misty! Good luck with your project!
Linda :o)

Jen T said...

I lighting in a china cabinet..it look so pretty! JenT

The Painted Parlor said...

What a gorgeous piece! I think I want to attempt a patterned background on my next hutch project, inspiring!! ~ stop by sometime at my blog if you'd like :)
Paintedparlor.blogspot.com
Julie

Linda said...

Thanks Julie, I stopped by your blog, you have some very cute stuff! I might try some furniture distressing this weekend now if I find the right piece!
Linda :o)

Marisa said...

Looks just like wallpaper! Great job!

brooke said...

I needed this!!!! I just bought a little kids hutch at goodwill that is begging for a makeover. You contact paper links are just what I needed.

Linda said...

Thanks! Good luck with your makeover Brooke!
Linda :o)

Rita@martenssmily said...

Love it!!! Absolutly amazing!!!

Linda said...

Thanks Rita! :o)

corner curio cabinet said...

Your blog's temple is so clean, love your shelf!

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