Oh Delia, You're Breaking My Heart

Now that the mirror was all finished, it was time for the bookshelf to get its makeover. I took a ride to my parents' house over the weekend and brought it up from the basement. I wasn't quite sure what to do with it. It was stained in a reddish-brown color and I wanted to see what the wood looked like underneath.

Enter the orbital sander. (Cue the Tim the Tool Man Taylor grunt.)

This handy little power tool was a gift from my Dad and it did a great job on the sides and the top of the bookshelf. The wood looked OK underneath. There was also a fantastic breeze blowing, which kept most of the sawdust away from my face (or so I thought until I blew my nose later).

The shelves were an entirely different story. My sander, my Dad's palm sander, and my patience weren't making much of a dent. I wasn't going to spend the time sanding each shelf down to the bare wood, so my other option was to chemically strip it. Stripping paint isn't my most favorite activity, so I decided to paint it.

I came home and surveyed my paint choices. Then the proverbial wheels started turning. Not too long ago, I bought a sheet set from The Christmas Tree Shop but they didn't fit my bed very well. I'd been saving them for a project, and this was going to be just the right one!

I decided to paint the bookshelf in Annie Sloan's "Pure White" and upholster the back with a swatch of my sheets!

To start, I took the back off by prying the staples off with a screwdriver.

Then I went to town with Annie Sloan's chalk paint in "Pure White".

After 2 coats, some touch ups, and some sanding, the paint job was all done. I hammered feet into the bottom to stabilize the bookshelf and lightly distressed the edges. Looking back on this piece, I think I should have dipped my brush in some water before putting the final coat of paint on. It helps to eliminate brush strokes and give a smoother finish.

The feet do a great job of stabilizing it - especially on carpet.

For the back, I wanted to Mod Podge fabric on the panel. It seemed easy enough. I cut my fabric to size,

tried a corner with Mod Podge, and I didn't like the way that it looked. That option was out. Then I thought, "Oh! I can just use thumb tacks to hold the fabric down."

Aaaaand that stretched the fabric, put holes in it, and distorted the pattern. Then I tried to use spray adhesive and I wound up getting 1/4 inch dark lines going horizontally across the fabric. It's pretty thin so I think some of the adhesive seeped through and stained the material.

Grrrr...

So then I went back to the drawing board aka my fabric basket. The only other fabric that I had enough of to use as a substitute was a drop cloth. Here's the brand that I had picked up for a different project.

did a quick Google search and found another inspiration to shoot for:

While the back of this bookshelf is burlap, I thought a drop cloth would be rustic enough to pull off the look. I love the nail embellishment going around the border too! What a great touch!

I opened up the drop cloth and washed it to soften it up, shrink it, and get the chemical smell out. After ironing it, I cut it to size with a few inches to spare on every side

...with Jake's supervision of course.

It was plain and needed a little something. I didn't want to spend any money on this project so upholstery tacks were out. So, I used a stencil that I already had and placed large and small lace circles using the same paint as the bookshelf color.

Adorbs!

After the paint dried, I used Elmer's Craft Bond spray adhesive to attach the drop cloth to the back panel. I trimmed it to size and then stapled it back on.

And here's Delia in all her glory! She's simple but adorable. The stenciled circles give her a whimsical touch - just enough pop without being over the top.