Since spotting her Greek key lined bookcases, Gwyneth and I have been on a mission to steal this look for our Dumpster Dive Bookcase in the home office corner of our living room. Cassie over at Hi Sugarplum! really knocked it out of the park on these!
Let’s be clear. We’re serious when we say steal. We weren’t inspired to line our bookcases after seeing hers. We were inspired to line our bookcases with the exact Greek key color and pattern that she did. They’re gorgeous, right?
Here’s where we ran into a minor hiccup. Gwyneth and I took on two DIYs this weekend. Lining our bookcase was one. Doing our (Federal, North Carolina AND New York) taxes was the other. So when we realized that Cassie’s bookcases are lined with fabric, we realized we needed a different material to fit into our we-just-paid-our-taxes budget.
So we went where one goes when faced with a DIY challenge. Pinterest. And that’s exactly where we spotted these beauties by Vanessa Vargas:
Another hiccup. Vanessa’s bookcases are lined with wallpaper – also out of our budget.
I was slightly discouraged, but Gwyneth reminded me that our dear friend, Whitney over at the Pink Elephant, had just lined the back of her armoire with gift wrapping paper. Bingo.
Seeing Whitney’s beautiful armoire restored my faith, and we started the hunt for pink Greek key gift wrap. Well, guess what? No one makes pink Greek key gift wrap. (We find this a little shocking!)
Don’t worry, this story has a happy ending! One of the places we searched for gift wrap was Etsy. While we didn’t find the gift wrap we were looking for, we did find Piper’s Place, a shop that makes a variety of paper goods and takes custom orders. Jamie, the owner, resized the design from her Greek key scrapbook paper and sent us a printable file the same day. We made a last-minute decision to scale-up the pattern a little more (inspired by the Vanessa Vargas bookcases), emailed the file over to Kinko’s, and on Sunday afternoon our bookcases went from this:
Super cute! I love it.
Thanks, Andi!
xoxo,
mk & Gwynnie
We are on same page! I’ve been keeping my eye out for cheap/cute wallpaper to line the back of my built in shelves in my bedroom closet! (Yes, I know you got jealous when I said “built in shelves in my bedroom closet”! I remember the days of my teeny, tiny NYC closet all too well! Makes me appreciate my walk-in all the more now!!
Well, here you go with an idea to line those shelves! We’ve got built in shelves in our closet here (LOVE THEM!), but very jealous of the walk in!
xoxo,
mk & G
They look wonderful Meredith! That inspires me to try it myself! Thanks for the great sources.
Have fun!!
xoxo,
mk & Gwynnie
Lovely bookcases!
Looks great!
Turned out super cute, I love it!!
Thank you, everyone!
xoxo,
mk & Gwynnie
That’s beautiful.
Thanks for showcasing my little DIY…thought it made me think I should also wallpaper (wrapping paper!) the inner sides. What do you think?
XO,
Whit
Whit, thanks for letting us (again) steal your great ideas! I think paper on the inner sides would be beautiful! Are there recessed panels on the inside sides? I think I see some, but hard to tell.
Gwynnie sends her love to Olivia!
xoxo,
mk & Gwynnie
Nice. Really nice. You and Gwynnie did well. And it looks really amazing and original and you …
Linda
So happy to see you linked up!
I love this! (Of course, anything with pink is usually a winner.)
Thta looks oh so cute! Love the change and the pattern! Nice job! Thanks for linking up to my party – I am glad you are here!
)
Please come back next week!
Stacey
Looks awesome Meredith! It makes huge difference in your space!
that looks great! i actually bought some clearance gift wrap with a stenciled look precisely to have on hand for diys such as this.
I can’t get over your projects. Your stuff is so good I could feature you every week!
Melody
One Chatty Chic
Love it! And goes to show you that persistence pays off – if you really want something, you’ll find a way to make it happen
I actually prefer the scale of your Greek key pattern over your inspiration – it stands out more and really says “I’m Greek key” 
Love how you’ve styled yous bookcase, especially the piece of artwork.
Kelly
Gwynnie sure knows her stuff!
Another great Cinch project – glad you linked up!
Kelly
wow, beautiful!! so i have a question? what exactly did they print it on? and just so you know i’m stealing this for myself
Hi there! They used their large-format printer and printed it on a matte paper. It’s a nice weight, but not card stock. This made it easy to work with, but I never felt like I was going to rip it while I was working! Good luck! I hope you’ll email us your finished product!!
xoxo,
mk & Gwynnie
Thanks so much, I will. can’t say when exactly, but I definitely will. smooches!
Loved this when you linked to our Cinch party and it’s so fun to see it again through The Rooster & The Hen party!
The larger scale you chose is perfect!
Kelly
Wonderful info in this post — thanks for sharing the hunt for the perfect solution. Looks marvelous!
Visiting from RRR.
Heidi @ Decor & More
Wonderful info in this post — thanks for sharing the hunt for the perfect solution. Looks marvelous!
Visiting from RRR.
Heidi @ Decor & More
Where did you get the bokkcases? They are beautiful.
Thank you! The bookcase was a Dumpster Dive find! But we think it’s from Ikea!
xoxo,
mk & G
Hello! Came over from Addicted 2 Decorating. Looks fab! Can you tell me how you affix the paper to the back? I ask because we have oak which my hubby forbids me to paint and I know he wouldn’t want any type of glue ruining the wood as well. Suggestions?
Hi Lisa! So glad you found us! Not sure if your hubby will approve of our method, but we used heavy duty clear packing tape to secure the paper to the back of the bookcase. We will say that when we took it down (we took off the paper and threw it out when we moved from NYC), it did not peel the paint off the back of the bookcase. Still, probably not the best solution if you have a great piece of furniture you are worried about damaging. Since ours was a dumpster dive find, we weren’t that worried. But what about that gummy / putty-like stuff? That might work for you! Hope this helps!
xoxo,
mk & Gwynnie
Hello again. Oh, that’s a good idea. I’ve used that stuff before, but didn’t think of itfor this application. Thanx!
You are so welcome! Please let us know how your bookcase turns out!
xoxo,
mk & G