Craft Room Renovation Part 1 "The Shelves"

This is a poor excuse for WOYWW- however- I can't very well show the room when we haven't showed you how I got there. 

So in December I decided I needed to re-vamp my craft room. As I rent I know my options are somewhat limited to what I can do. I can't paint it the color I prefer for instances but I can bring in items that add a lot of character that later when I buy a house will still blend in a room and be mobile. That was a big thing for me. While I would love built in's that's just not an option right now. I don't want to put anything in that I can not remove and take with me!

Here's a tutorial and some of the do's and DO NOT's. There's going to be alot of these over the next week. I learned alot! There were ups and DOWNS. At one point I wanted to scream and sell it all! Not even kidding, it was frustrating. But a few steps back.. a few breaths... a few days and a few bottles of wine later... I'm happy to say the room is complete! 

These shelves I picked because they were cheap.. always a plus.. read below. They were also at the right height for me to use for a bar island style table. They were just what I needed also with all of the storage capabilities. Now these pictures are all taken in my living room . as are much of my renovation because New Years Eve.. my furnace decided to break and because of closings and life events, I worked in my living room most of the time with some space heaters going! Because nothing and I mean nothing was going to stop me from getting the room done before mid month! I was a woman on a mission.. and when the boyfriend gave me the eye... as though he was getting to question me gluing, using gesso, paint etc. in the living room I gave him a look of death.. and all was well again. 

I asked this year for Christmas for money to contribute to my room. Like I said I can't change the colors of the room but decided off the bat I wanted yellows in my room. I decided to go with some pattern papers at the back of these cube shelf units I bought. I got them for 35 percent off.. as they were both opened and I just asked the gal at walmart for a discount. One was also missing the hardware (it costs me 5 bucks to buy new hardware) but I got 17 dollars off! I collected some yellow and grey papers and cut them to size. 

I then... being smart as I am just began putting on the mod podge.... hmm do you see how it's not quite looking right?!?! Well that's because I skipped sanding the glossy cardboard back piece.. which caused the glue just to sit on top of the cardboard backing.. never really adhering to it. Remember when using anything with that shinny poly type coat on it.. you need to sand first. I could have attempted to sand it that way or take the whole thing apart and sand what needed done.....instead... I stepped back.. yelled some swear words, pulled the paper up... and moved on. 

BOOOOO I love this product- hate my stupidness!

See the bubbling?? That's what I was seeing with the mod podge. Now I'm not inexperienced in using this medium... it just didn't work for me and those papers and my forgetfulness to sand the back board. I ended up going a whole other route going with my trust Helmar 450 Quick Dry. It worked like a charm, I had bondage without having the tear about the shelves and sanding the back- and no bubble. 

I ended up loving how the came together. Pops of color on the bold black. Now be sure to stay tuned this week as all week I am going to be posting the renovation.