DIY Project: Bookcase Curtains

A couple weeks ago, I did an inspiration post on bookcases, with the intention of fueling my creativity, and perhaps yours, for an upcoming project I have been scheming for awhile. This project involved purchasing a Billy bookcase, with glass doors on the bottom, and attaching fabric, in some way, to the inside to create a hidden storage area. It was brought up during my thinking that I could just as easily purchase the bookcase with the solid doors and have the hidden storage, but I really wanted the little bit of fabric, like small pieces of art, showing through.

Once I had the bookcase completely together and secured to the wall (don’t need it falling on kitty during the day!), I cut my fabric to the correct dimensions. This included 2.5″ extra on each end for the wrap around for the dowels. Once I cut my fabric, I broke out the drill and placed the holes for the eye-hooks.

The hooks I used with 5/8″ hooks that were just big enough to allow for a dowel to slide through. I did not want them too big because I was afraid the screw would go too far into the wood of the door and either show through the other side or crack the wood. I picked these up in the ‘screw’ department at Home Deport for only a couple dollars.

Because the shelves on the bookcase hit about an inch into the door when it’s closed, I didn’t want the dowels or the hooks to get in the way of it closing properly. Thus, I decided to place them about 1/2″ to the side of the corners of the glass. Once I finished, I realized I could have gotten away with placing them about an inch down, so you can’t see the final gather of the fabric through the glass. Oh well, lesson learned!

After drilling all eight holes (four on each door), I moved on to the fabric I had cut at the beginning. Ikea offers a product that I know you can get at any craft or fabric store, but also comes with curtains and is sold over in their textile department as well, that allows you to just fold and heat to create a seam. So the boyfriend had some from his curtains that he let me use…

All you have to do is cut it to size, then iron the fabric to create a hem, place the mesh and iron over it.

Once you do this, you should have a nice strong seam. I found that it takes a couple heat-and-cool runs to ensure that it will stick, so have a little patience. :)

After you finish all of the loops, run the rod through the fabric and hook them in place on the bookcase doors. I tend to be an eyeballer when it comes to measurements, so mine where a little tricky and were very taught, but I am faithful that they will stay secure. Oh! The little dowels? I just picked those up at the hardware store as well, where you can cut your own size. I needed two dowels, which were like 60-80 cents a piece and just cut them myself. (Note: you will get looks if you are a female with a saw in hand, a large purse and flip flops on, just FYI. ;)

You’ll notice I left my edges raw. Because I am not going to see the edges except when I open the door to get something, I was not worried about the edges being raw. I also did not have fabric shears, they would have been better than the office scissors I used, but regardless, the final product was not effected by the rough edges or the cheap scissors.

Once the panels were in place, I attached the doors and walah!

A few items on the shelves above, and you have a finished product!

It adds a nice little pop of pattern and whimsy to the space. And because the rods are removable, I can change the fabric out whenever I want to! As you can see from the photos, I change my mind a lot (the layout of things on the shelves) so it’s a super sweet bonus to have the panels removable.

And yes, there are a lot of hidden items in the cabinet. Files, weights, external harddrives — there’s a reason I wanted hidden storage!

Hope I’ve inspired you, what sort of DIY projects do you have on your plate?