Project 219: A bookshelf reclaimed as a dresser

I live in a characterful 1930s apartment building next to a gorgeous garden park and just 1 block from the Thames. Characterful, in London property terms, means small!

One of the challenges is that my old set of drawers was too deep for the bedroom, making it impossible to pull them out without hitting the bed.

I decided to look for something open that would allow me to have most of my clothes on a shelf and eliminate the problem. When I saw this bookshelf at a charity second hand shop I knew I could transform it. And for £12, the price was too good to resist! I paid almost 100% more for a £10 delivery fee, just to give them a bigger donation (and it was before I got a car).

The first thing I did was remove the AWFUL peeling vinyl paper. I replaced it with a green and blue drawer liner I bought for £4 at Tiger.

Next I painted it with green chalk paint to give it a fake antique patina. I think the paint was £4.50. The lighting is so bright right now I can't get the tone to come through in the picture but it's a nice minty sage green. 

I hunted for a while for good drawer knobs. These are from Anthropologie and were the most expensive component, coming in at £8 each! I actually liked the original ones as they were  ceramic but they were red and nothing in my room is red. I'll save them for something else.

Finally I bought these woven baskets from TK Maxx, £8 for the two bigger ones, and £6 for the smaller one. I'm evangelical about the KonMari method of folding and tidying and she recommends you fold things so they are vertical, rather than horizontal. That way you see everything at once and folding and storing is actually way easier.

I'm super pleased with the finished product and, at £84.50 for all the materials and parts, I don't think I could have found a better or more bespoke piece. Totally worked out as getting clothes couldn't be easier!