Fabric Covered Shelves: An Accidental Project

I accidentally covered my linen closet shelves with fabric this weekend. How did that happen, you might ask?

The linen closet next to my master bath was something I overlooked the first few weeks of living here. One day I turned around and said, “Wow! I have another closet!” It became a place for stashing miscellaneous items.

I have a ton of sewing materials stowed away in shoeboxes and bins in various closets around the house. I actually have stopped sewing because I could not find anything I needed for my projects. If only I could get them all together in one place! Recently I decided to empty out my extra linen closet and use it only to store linens and sewing material.

I started by completely emptying out the middle three shelves. (The top and bottom shelves contain books that I will need to find homes for another day.) I cleaned off the old wooden shelves and decided to cover them with contact paper.

Here is where the serendipitous accident occurred. I grabbed what I thought was patterned contact paper, cut it to size, and started to peel off the backing. Then I discovered that it was actually a clear contact paper, which I use to cover the children’s school workbooks.

Then I thought: how nice it would be to have a pretty paper or fabric underneath! I took out a thin gauzy material that was unsuitable for any sewing projects, cut it to size, attached it underneath with masking tape, and covered it with the clear contact paper.



The result is a pretty pattern on my shelves that are destined for storing materials. This will serve as a constant reminder that I am only to use this space for that purpose. As I go through the contents of other closets and come across more material, I have a place in which to store them.



As soon as I had covered a shelf and put it in its place, I had a pile of curtains ready to go there. My covering is not perfect either, and the paint is original to the house. I am not Martha Stewart, nor do I wish to be. These are real pictures of a real closet in a real house, belonging to a real mom with real kids. I hope I have inspired you to do something fun and different with your fabric today!