The first week at my new job is officially BEHIND me. It feels good to say that…As with any big change, it was a little stressful getting going, and I’m sure I have my fair share of stressful days still to come. But I just need to keep a smile on and know that I’m actually headed somewhere now. As is the case with a lot of us, I’m figuring it out as I go and that’s okay!

Oh, and if you too are going through some major life changes, I urge you (“urge? URGE??” Does anyone else hear the old Herbal Essences commertials in their head upon hearing the word “urge”? Okay, maybe that’s just me…) Anyway, I urge you to check this article out from the Everygirl last week. Words. To. Live. By. Felt like it was written just for me, but I think a lot of people might feel that way – Maybe even you!

But I digress.

Moving into today’s “Pinspiration Monday” post, I am here to tell you the story of a little collection of black shelves that got a pretty major (and cheap) makeover. It all started after spotting this image on Pinterest:

Source | Better Homes and Gardens

Adorable right? Little square shelves hung on the wall, but not JUST hung on the wall. These little beauties were given a burst of personality with custom-cut fabric glued into the opening.

The particular shelves I had in mind lived in our second bathroom, the one in the studio, which John has completely taken over in lieu of bumping elbows with me in the master bathroom (his decision, not mine). The shelves were put in place by me and dressed with little decorative things to bring a little interest to the otherwise BLAH space. It was a halfhearted attempt since I hadn’t considered trying to really style the room – Until now.

First of all, they needed new paint. The original black finish was scratched and beat up from multiple moves, so taking a cue from my inspiration image, I spray painted them a nice glossy white.

For the patterned background, I decided to go with scrapbook paper – Super inexpensive (It was less than $2 for all four sheets thanks to a clearance sale) and really easy to work with. All I needed was a pen (to trace each individual shelf on top of the pattern) and a pair of scissors (to trim them). Plus, the wide variety of patterns in scrapbook paper just can’t be beat in my book.

After cutting each piece of paper to fit, I flipped both the paper and the shelf over and pushed simple thumbtacks into each corner (and also along the sides of the largest shelves for stability).

After that, the shelves were ready for their close up. I love the dimension created by the inset patterns – Don’t they seem to really pop now against the fresh white edges of the boxes?

Up they went again in the bathroom. It’s nearly impossible to get a good shot in this windowless room, but you may have also noticed a change in the wall color…This project ended up being a major kick in the butt to overhaul the entire room. With my mom’s help, we transformed the “Builder’s Basic Beige” walls into new sleek, modern gray ones. We managed a handful of other projects, but those will be revealed as the week progresses…

But back to those shelves…I LOVE the new pattern – It’s almost like they went from purely functional to functional art. Instead of buying a whole new set of art for the room, I spent $2 on paper and got to call it “done.” Oh, and take a gander at the group all styled up below – Amazingly, I didn’t add anything to the styling from the “Before” shot. The pop of pattern ups the ante just enough so I didn’t have to fuss with new accessories.

Check back on Wednesday for more on this whole room transformation…

P.S. If you haven’t entered the veil giveaway from last week’s impromptu newlyweds week, click here for the details!!