Drawers all lined up!

Mama P has been oh-so-busy with more projects for Baby P's room. This one is --GASP!-- a non-sewing project!!! I'll give you a moment to recover while you gaze upon lined drawer furniture loveliness...

But... you know you are craving for the full story on these bad boys, and I am not going to keep you from it. (it's slightly longish and picture heavy, though... so I'ma-make you jump to it... but do it, you know you want to.)

So you saw Baby P's fancy new furniture, right? ('New' as in... old and redone to look new-- kind of new). Well you saw the OUTSIDE of Baby P's furniture... Which looks pretty put together. The inside? well that's another story. The inside of baby P's shiny, pretty furniture looks like this:

It originally had a punch out panel for an entertainment system... which is what it was previously used for, I saved the panel and asked my dad if we could somehow put it back in without destroying the piece... and he did... but it now has an un-painted portion and awesome screws all across the back. My father is nothing if not thorough. That backing is going no where.



And... this is what the inside the the drawers look like. Dirty and grody... and STELLAR painting skills on display. Oops.



Something had to be done. I was going to just get some drawer liner to put in the bottom of the drawers, but it was kinda expensive and... well... boring. I wanted an exciting pop of-- something-- when I opened the drawers and cabinets.

So I did a little research and I was all, okay. I'm going to find some cute wrapping paper and line these drawers a la Young House Love:

Source: younghouselove.com via Valerie on Pinterest

But honestly, after searching for weeks, I am all, where do people get cute/modern wrapping paper? All the wrapping paper options I found were kind of sad and crappy and not interesting like I was envisioning. Still unwilling to relent to boring drawer liners, I kept looking. And found this post on a blog where a lady had lined/wallpapered he kitchen cabinets with fabric.

Source: littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com via Valerie on Pinterest

DING DING DING!

We have a winner! I like this method not only because I can use fun fabrics and themes already in the room, but it uses only liquid starch to adhere to the wall/cabinet/drawer and... it's only permanent-ish. Sooo... it sticks up there like it's for good, but if I get tired of it, or it gets dirty, or whatever, I just wet it down with a sponge and it peels off... without any damage to the surface it was adhered to! You can't really say that about modge-podge, as much as we all love that stuff.

I had 9 drawers (6 big, 3 little) and a bureau back I needed covered. I chose three different fabrics and used about a yard of each for this project. Measure your space carefully prior to purchasing/cutting fabric and make sure you are getting enough fabric to cover the surface with the print all going the same direction. (I may have forgotten about that print direction thing and got really angry with myself over it.)

So here's how it all went down.

Supplies:

Fabric (Mine came from Hobby Lobby, Jo-Anns, and Etsy)

Liquid starch (Cheap in laundry aisle at Walmart)

sponge

bucket

rags and water for cleanup!

Cut your fabric to the size of the drawer (or cabinet).

Pour liquid starch into the bucket, and dunk cut fabric into it so it is saturated.

Remove the fabric and gently wring out the extra. (the fabric is a little stretchy at this point, so don't be to rough with it!)

Spread it out and stick the wet fabric to the cabinet/drawer in the approximate position you want it.

  

Grab your sponge and start smoothing it out from the middle out the the corners. Get all the air bubbles out so the fabric will adhere to the backing. Use the sponge to push the fabric out to all the edges. It's okay if it overlaps the edges/corners a bit, you can trim it after it dries.
Once your fabric is in place, grab your damp rag and wipe up any drippy starch that you may have splashed in the process (not that you did, I am sure you were quite clean in your process... but if you did... wipe it up now.)

And... now you are waiting for it to dry. It could take several hours. You don't really want to touch it or mess with it at this point. Just leave the room and let it do it's thing. (There was a lot of white in my fabric, and when it was still wet, it was all see through. I was bummed, I was thinking this looked horrible and was a bad plan. But I left it overnight and when it was completely dry, it was opaque, hiding the ugly back of the bureau and all the screws. Yay! So don't fret if your fabric is a bit see-through before it dries. Wait it out, my friend.)

Now... if you have excess fabric poking up around your edges, use a knife or your thumbnail or something flat to cram it deep into the corner, then use an exacto knife or rotary cutter to trim the excess... and peel it off. Easy peasy, nice clean edges.

And... You're done! Stand back and admire your work. Smile at how happy it feels to open a bright and pretty drawer. Maybe leave a cabinet door open and peek your head in the room a couple times a day to smile at the way it brightens once mundane-at-best storage areas. And feel content that 6 months from now when you are sick of looking at those same patterns (because you are ADD and restless like that) you can easily wet it down, tear out the fabric and do something different, with no damage to the furniture OR the fabric. Big win.

Check it:

Happy cabinets and drawers in Baby P's room. He's gonna love it! :)

Now... it's time to load those drawers with baby things and get this room finished up! Just a few more projects to share with you... the room is almost ready! Mom and Dad-- well that's a different story. ha!