31 Days of Pinterest Projects - Day 5 - Map Backed Bookcases {In Progress}

I'm keeping it real today. I knew that it would be tough to complete 31 entire Pinterest Projects in just 31 days. And sure, in the perfect world, as I imagined in my mind, I would have spent the entire month of Septemeber doing the projects and taking and uploading photos and then I would only have to do the work of blogging about the projects for the entire month of October. But, this is not the perfect world, and now I'm trying to cram 31 actual projects into 31 actual days and blog about it along the way meanwhile keeping up with all my other responsibilities.

So today was one of those days where I didn't actually get my project done. And as I blog about this at 11:15pm, dirty dishes and clothes still await me in the other room!

For now, I'll share a few {In Progress} photos with you and I hope to show you the final project later this month.

Earlier this evening I posted this image on my Facebook wall:

 

Then I asked my friends to guess what Pinterest Project they thought I might be tackling today - guesses included "photo mat" or "weaving a basket" or "string art".

 

 

 

 

Sorry ladies...good guesses. But actually, I am going to work on this - our built-in bookcases in the family room.

 

 



Ever since we moved in, I have wanted to make them over in some way. I've wanted to do a better job with styling them for sure. I just threw things up there in a functional way when we unpacked, and I haven't really done much since {other than make a whole Pin Board for inspirational photos of Styled Shelves...LOL!}. And I really don't like the heavy oak wood grain that shows on the back behind the books. No idea why but it just bothers me at times.

So now that it's 31 Days of Pinterest Project month, I thought, I HAVE got to do something to these puppies. I'd really love to paint them white or gray and line the backs with fabric or burlap or something. However, the fact remains that we do not own our home, we're renting it; and I have some major heartburn about painting someone else's woodwork. That and painting with a toddler in the house also generally equals disaster. Especially a house that you don't own the carpet in :) So, I thought I ought to pick something that would be a little less permanent.

A few of my pins involved wallpaper backed wooden bookcases:

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And I thought they were pretty cute. But I also didn't know where to find stylish yet inexpensive wallpaper. Nor did I think that was any less permanent than painting the bookcases. So, I was back to the drawing board, er, Pinterest.

And that's when I found this makeover by Melissa on The Inspired Room.

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Map backed wooden bookcases. And the map was just taped to the bookcase! Easily removable. Woohoo! A perfect solution for a renter. And it goes along with the recent trend of decorating with maps, which I love because it is such a green solution and I feel like maps are pretty timeless accessories.

 

Here are just a couple images of other map decor pins I've gathered recently.

 

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So this afternoon when it started raining and I wanted a fun indoor project, I just grabbed the "Removable Double Sided Tape,"

 

 

and I pulled out our old 2009 Atlas from a box of stuff we'd removed from our second vehicle before we sold it last summer - and I had all the supplies I needed!

 

I simply removed all the shelves {and books and other miscellany}, starting only with one third of the entire built-in unit, so as not to cover everysingleflatsurface in our home with junk!! Then I just tore out pages from the Atlas and taped them to the back of the bookcase, overlapping as I saw fit and being sure to include pages of cities and states we'd actually been to. It was really fun and super easy to do. I did this much in about 10 minutes.  

 

 

 

 

 

And then I wondered where my two year old was. . .This is where I found him:

 

 

Yep. Inside one of the upper kitchen cabinets. He was very proud of himself.

 

"Now...how do I get out of here?" he ponders...

 

 

"Hello Mommy!!!"

 

 

"Hmmmm...."

 

 

"That was fun!"

 

"Huh...maybe I don't want to be out yet."

 

"Let's try that again."

 

And you see, folks, why there is never a dull moment in this home!

 

So, anyways, I have only finished about 10-20% of this project. But I have some high hopes of wrapping it up in the next few days, because I'm just not sure how much longer we can live with tables and counters looking like this...

Furthermore, when I finish lining the back of the bookcases with the maps, I'll be able to move onto the fun part - styling the shelves {which I will be sure to share as part of the 31 Days as well}! I just have to keep my eye on the prize!

Speaking of fun parts, I'm also thrilled to announce that tomorrow I'll actually be headed to my sister-in-law's home to work on organizing and making over a couple spaces with her, so I hope to share some details of those projects with you later this month too.

Have a great weekend!