How to Wallpaper the Back of Bookshelves

For as long as I could remember I’ve had these white bookshelves. They were purchased at some home improvement store probably right after I moved home from college and they have traveled with me where ever I have lived.

They are pretty much the Billy bookcases from Ikea, but they sell shelves like this at many home improvement stores.

Via

Currently they are in my office and were looking pretty plain until I recently spruced them up with some left over grass cloth from our dining room project.

Here is a quick how to put wallpaper {of any kind not just grass cloth} on the back of a bookshelf. I did this on both the large bookshelves and the small ones I just moved into our bedroom, so the pics are of both.

Fist, empty off the shelves and give yourself enough space to be able to lay the shelves down flat. Don’t forget to take out the move able shelves.

Next, lay the bookshelves front-side-down flat on the floor. This was done right in my office so I squeezed around them to be able to work.

After that you remove the back piece of the shelves. Pretty much all of these kinds of shelves come with a removable back. Use a small flat screwdriver to wedge under the nails and use the pliers to pull them off. This is actually the most time consuming part of the project but once it is done, you are over the hill. Save the nails.

Next, measure the size of the wallpaper you’ll fit on the back. I laid mine on the ground and put the backer piece on top of it to mark lines to cut the paper the exact size I needed.You can cut it a little bigger and trim later if you are afraid of fit. Sometimes the wallpaper or shelves might not be exactly square, so feel free to give yourself some wiggle room with the paper.

Then you apply the wallpaper paste just like you would on a wall to the backer piece. Since my backer piece was cardboard {and I think most are} it absorbed the paste up quickly, so work as fast as you can and just slop it on there. I used the wallpaper paste that we used to put the grass cloth up in the dining room. Some people might use spray adhesive for this, but I used the paste since grass cloth is a bit thick and you have to get a good amount on there. Not too much to soak it, but enough so it will stick.This is the wallpaper paste I purchased at Lowes.

Then, set the wallpaper on the backer piece and smooth it out. Depending on your wallpaper, you can use a flat item like a credit card or ruler to smooth. Grass cloth is tricky so I was especially careful to smooth with my hands only.You can lay some books or magazines on top to let it dry, that will keep things flat. I only waited about an hour and removed them to put the shelves back together.

Lots of grad school books can help.

Then you place the backer piece on the back of your shelves, making sure it will all line up correctly. And hammer away. Little finishing nails should do the trick if you lose some of the original ones. I put them back in the same places they came out of.  Don’t hammer in an entire side until you see that the backer piece is fitting on square and it will reach all the back of the shelves frame. Make sense?

And then you are set. Lift your shelves up and replace the removable shelves.  Then style away.

Will you be adding some pizazz to the back of your bookshelves? Maybe with fabric, craft paper or something else?

Sharing with Tutorials and Tips Tuesday at Home Stories A 2 Z, In About an Hour at Hi Sugarplum