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I couldn’t stand the look of my bookshelves any longer, so I decided to give it a make over… on a budget. Take a look at the “before” and “after” pictures below:

First, I took everything out of the shelves and checked it.  I purged, consolidated, and removed empty bins.

I had previously googled decoration boxes, but they were all so expensive!  I finally found what I wanted at IKEA in light green, which is the color of the room, in order to be consistent with the rest of the décor.  I purchased 6 FJÄLLA boxes with lids.  They came with a metal bookplate to insert a label.  I paid $5.99 each plus taxes.

I also purchased magazine files in the same color for $4.99 at IDEA.  They come 2 per pack.  I purchased 9 packs (18 magazine files total).   These also came with the metal bookplates.

I labeled each box and magazine file and finished the bookshelf on the right side in no time for about $80.00 total.

My plan was to spend $100.00 for the makeover.  After spending $80.00 on the one on the right, I only had $20.00 left.  No problem! I had everything planned in advance.

Prior to ordering the IKEA boxes and magazine files, I had plan to use the boxes that you can see on the BEFORE pictures (on top of the bookshelves) and wrap them after seeing this post from Namely Original on Pinterest: http://namelyoriginal.blogspot.com/2013/01/how-to-cover-box-in-fabric.html

In her blog, she used fabric to wrap her boxes, but my budget was limited, so I thought about using contact paper in light green.  I found the one I wanted at the Dollar Tree online: Con-Tact Quick Cover Green and White Self-Adhesive Shelf Liners, 18×54“ for $16.00 a case.

This is how the order came:

This is the first box I wrapped using contact paper:

This is how I spent the money:

6 FJÄLLA boxes with lids $5.99 each = 35.94

9 sets FJÄLLA magazine files $4.99 = 44.91

Contact Paper (Dollar Tree) = $16.00

1 pack adhesive metal bookplates = 5.99

Total Make-over: $102.84 (plus taxes)

You can save even more if you wrap your own boxes instead of purchasing decorated boxes and magazine files like I did for the first bookshelf.  Although it would have saved me some money, wrapping my own boxes was a bit tedious, time consuming, and frustrating at times.

I didn’t spend any money for my desk area… just organized, consolidated, purged, and added spines/covers to my binders as you can see on the pictures below.

Now… it is a joy to look at my bookshelves and desk area in my home office!