I spotted this country style heart shelf from Goodwill the other day for $6. While it’s not really my style, I thought a little paint could really transform this into a nice little accent piece for my daughter’s bedroom.
The shelf was in great condition for only $6. I really didn’t have to do any sanding since the surface was smooth and the wood was untreated. I just wiped off all the debris with a wet washcloth to prepare for my primer. This time I chose Zinsser Bulls Eye 123 Primer which works great for all surfaces.
Once the primer was dry, I painted the heart shelf with two coats of Rustoleum semi gloss white spray paint. Since the shelf had so many niches, I found the spray paint was the smoothest coverage.
I love the way the white pops, but I thought adding some fabric behind the shelves would really set it off from her light blue walls.
While shopping at WalMart, I noticed they sell quarter singles, 18×22 inch pieces of fabric normally used for quilting. I thought this would be perfect since each quarter single is only $1.30. I picked up three colors, pink, olive green and blue.
I had to iron the fabric since it came folded and I didn’t want to see any creases behind the shelves.
Next I measured the space between the shelves so I could cut the fabric to fit. I added 2 inches to each side so I had plenty of room to attach to the wooden frame.
I used a staple gun to adhere the fabric, starting in one corner, then attached the opposite corner. Once the four corners were secure, I stapled all the way around the frame. I followed this suit with each shelf.
I finally got all of the fabric in place and secure. I flipped over the heart shelf and voilà! Beautiful smooth colored shelf liners that really pop from the painted white shelf!
I added a couple of my daughter’s trinkets for now until I find some little photo frames to show off some of her pictures through the years. I’m happy for now tough.
Final costs: $6 for the shelf from Goodwill, $4.50 for the Zinsser white spray paint primer, $3.50 for Rustoleum semi gloss white spray paint, $4 for the three fabric quarter singles. My total was $17 to transform the country heart shelf to a bright and colorful shelf for my daughter’s bedroom! Not too shabby.
But alas, I was shopping at JoAnn’s Fabric over Memorial Day and spotted this modern pattern for $2.99 a yard that perfectly goes with my daughter’s room. So I ripped off the old fabric and stapled on the new stuff! It only took me 10 minutes to fully change out and get back up on the wall. Man, I love the fact that I can change the heart shelf fabric backing out as often and easily as I change my mind 🙂
