Small Shelf Makeover

I wish I had a true before picture of this shelf. I found this at a thrift store several months ago for about $4.00. It was a dated, dark brown with terrible paneling as the back that was broken in several places. My hubby replaced the back with a thin plywood and I primed and painted it in a bright white. This shelf was then neglected for a few months. I have moved it from place to place in my office, never really wanting to work on it. I had zero inspiration. I was ready to pitch it and get it out of my site. A couple of days ago, I made the 40 minute trek out to Hobby Lobby and found some beautiful scrapbooking paper (along with tons of other fun stuff.) Now, I am not a scrapbooker, but lately I've been looking at the papers out there and getting tons of inspiration for my painting. So, I bought a book of paper, not really knowing where I was going to use it, but knowing it would come in handy for various projects. While cleaning my office I came across my forgotten shelf. The paper! Mod Podge! Inspiration at long last!

So, I pulled out my new jar of Mod Podge (the very first one I've ever purchased) and found a paper that I thought would look cute on the shelf. I measured and used my paper cutter to make perfectly straight cuts.

I did a dry fit to make sure everything looked good and then applied the Mod Podge with a foam brush. No matter how much I tried to smooth out the paper, there were bubbles...argh. But, the strange thing was when it was fully dry, there were no bubbles. OK, I'll take it.

I applied two coats of Mod Podge total and then did some decorative painting on the knobs and the drawers to tie them in with the paper. And ta-da! My neglected shelf is finally finished and shop-worthy.

I think it will look so cute in a bathroom or a girl's room, even a kitchen. Why not? There's a little grove for plates, so it would be perfect for displaying a tea cup & saucer collection.

I kept the decorative painting very simple and matched the floral detail in the paper.

As a side note, am I the only one who thought it was Modge Podge, not Mod Podge?

<a href="http://www.modularofficefurnituremanufacturer.blogspot.com"><img alt="Furniture Feature Fridays" src="http://www.missmustardseed.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/furniture-feature-friday-link.jpg" /></a>

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I'm posting this to Met Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch , Saturday Nite Special @ Funky Junk Interiors, and DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land.