DIY: Pin Up Girl

Our guest bathroom has been a total after thought, but one thing that has driven me crazy since we moved in was the make shift wallpapered shelves. Even my dad made fun of it when they visited. I had an extra hour one afternoon, and decided it was time to tackle the push-pinned paper mess.
The shelves have strange notches making it hard to simply re-wallpaper. To remedy this, I upholstered foam core board panels cut to perfectly fit the shelves. This trick can be used on any shelving or even add some interest to the back of a hutch. As long as you can recover your panel, you can continually change the look of your house.

What You'll Need:
3/4 yard fabric (will vary based on shelf size)
Foam Core
Exacto Knife
Staple Gun (I love the Powershot)
1/4in. staple gun staples
Spray Adhesive
Large piece of cardboard to cut on - unless you like the look of ruined hardwoods.


Before: Not so bad, but up close it was a hot mess

Put up with push pins and seams glued together, and it still didn't stretch across the whole shelf. Ick.



I had this Annie Selke fabric laying around from a bulletin board project.
I thought the grey would look great with the blue-grey wainscotting in the bathroom


 Step 1: Use the exacto knife to cut the foam core to the dimensions of shelf. (All 3 of my shelves were different sizes just to make this project even more fun.)
I cut out notches to accomodate the shelf supports. Luckily the fabric is forgiving if your cuts are a little wavy.
*Don't forget to cut on another surface. You do not want cut marks on your floor.
Step 2: Cut fabric with an inch border around foam core

Step 3: Spary fabric with Spray Adhesive

Step 4: Line up the pattern to the foam core



Step 5: Fold the edges tightly around the panel. Staple the fabric to the back of the foam core





Ta-Da! One down, Two to go...



Step 6: Place the panels in the shelves (I realize the second shelf isn't straight. I'll fix that... someday)



How cute is the little Mr. Fonty?!

Not how they will permanently be styled, but I had a bunch of frames lying around

Making the panels allowed me to have a perfet fit in the corners.



AFTER!