Paper Palace - A wallpapered bookcase
I live in a little old town that may or may not have been rocked a sizeable earthquake. It was a house destroyer, mine was fine, bar a few cracks.
Recently those cracks were patched up, thanks to a certain earthquake commission. We were asked to choose paint colours and were given just one rule - you can pick any colour you like as long as it is no lighter than what is on the walls currently.
I had a fairly dark/dark enough raspberry red paint on the walls at the time. This meant I could pick a paint that was either as dark as the red or darker but could not choose anything lighter.
That was fine by me I like dark colours and dark walls. I went to the paint store and instantly fell in love with an impossibly light blue paint, on the banned list of paint choices. What a love story.
Anyway, many charts and test pots later I settled on a dark/dark enough blue.
I still has the banned blue rattling around my mind. A month of temporary accommodation didn't help.
Now my bookcase, originally, was yellow and red, which fit with the red room but did not fit with the new blue room. I'd found a way to work the banned blue into the room.
Throw in some wonderfully cheap but lush wallpaper and the bookcase was looking snazzy.
A perfect palace to house those paperbacks.
You will need:
- Bookcase
- Medium grade sandpaper or paint remover
- Small roller
- Paint tray
- Paint brush
- Masking tape
- 1/2 litre White base paint
- 1 litre semi-gloss paint (colour of your choice)
- 2 meters wallpaper
- Wallpaper paste
- 2-3 metres wallpaper
- Wallpaper spreader
Step One
Sand the surface of the bookcase using a medium grade sandpaper. Use a sanding block or block of wood to wrap the sandpaper around.
If your bookcase is varnished or painted, make sure the treatment is roughed up or else the paint will scratch easily.
If the varnish or paint is too difficult to sand off use a paint or varnish remover.
I used paint remover on the back of the bookcase as it was covered in a thick high-gloss paint.
*Tip -If using a brush-on remover from a can (as opposed to a spray remover) Pour the remover onto the surface of the wood, then brush it out, wait for it to bubble, then scrape off. The product will go further.
*Tip - Use a rounded off scrapper to prevent gouge marks.
Step Two
Apply a base coat of white to the bookcase - All over, including the shelves.
Allow to dry.
Step Three
Using a small roller, paint all flat surfaces in semi-gloss paint. Give it 2 coats.
If you have curved detail like my bookcase then paint it using a thin paint brush.
When the paint is dry remove the masking tape and paint the edges using a thin paint brush - bookcase and shelves included.
I tried this but found that the paint dries too quickly and peels off the plastic bag onto the roller leaving lumps of dried paint on the surface of the wood.
This tip didn't work for me (It was a very hot day I tried it) but it may work for you.
Step Four
Measure the height of the bookcase back and cut wallpaper to size. Make up wallpaper paste according to instructions on packet.
I pasted the back of the bookcase rather than the paper, using the wallpaper spreader to remove any bubbles.
Measure and cut as many sheets of wallpaper as needed.
*Tip - Always match up the pattern before cutting the paper.
*Tip - If there are some air pockets that the spreader fails to remove, use a pin to prick the paper and deflate the air inside.