Beadboard Backed Bookshelf Tutorial

We have been working on getting Luke's "big boy room" ready. I am hoping to transition him before the baby comes (ambitious, I know). Anyway, a friend was selling this awesome bookshelf for $20. I loved the size of it, the color (which matches his other furniture) and the sturdy frame. The only real issue with the piece was the backing. Originally it had that flimsy cardboard backing and there were holes in a couple places, in addition to being just generally beat up.

So, we headed to Lowe's to find a new backing for our bookshelf. Here's what we needed to do this project: 

beadboard cut to fit your bookshelf ($8)

spray paint ($3)

wood stain (on hand)

sanding supplies (borrowed from a neighbor)

drill (on hand)

nails (on hand) 

After the new back the bookshelf cost us $31 dollars! I love it and so does Luke. Here's the easy tutorial.

Take your beadboard and sand the edges so that it won't give you slivers. Then, spray paint your desired color. I didn't realize I was going to add the stain until after my bookshelf was assembled, but it would be a lot smarter to stain at this point instead.

This picture is us making sure the beadboard lined up before we start to nail/drill.

Flip your boards into place on your bookshelf.

Because the space we had to place the nails into the shelf was really small, my husband drilled tiny holes into the wood first so that the nails didn't split the wood.

Pound nails into your drilled holes, securing backing in place.

 

Here is a picture of the bookshelf when it was "finished" and I realized I wanted to add some stain to darken up the color and texture a bit.

 

The left is pre-stain, the right is post-stain. I love the rougher, stained look, but honestly either would be really cute.

 

Here's the final project before I added in the shelves and toys! So easy right??

Good luck with your bookshelf re-doing!

*If you enjoyed this post make sure to check out some other popular decor posts:
Luke's Nursery Part 1
A New Room for Under $150 
Luke's Nursery Part 2
Sewing Room Makeover Part 1
Luke's Nursery Part 3

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