Fake Bookshelves

Your visitors will do a double-take when they enter your home and they see what, at first glance looks like a full-wall bookshelf, but when they look again, theyll see its all fake. It looks so realistic, though, that the fake bookshelves end up being quite stunning. If youre the type of person who is always looking for new wallpaper jobs youll love this one. This is a much different type of wallpaper job, though, than youve probably ever done.

When you use narrow molding as the fake bookshelves you create a 3-d look. Cut molding to be the length you want then tack it up on the wall, in spaced rows, so that you have several horizontal rows. If you have no molding make the fake bookshelves by using tape. Youll find tape in all sorts of colors and styles now so you can give the fake bookcases just the look you want. Alternatively, you can tape on strips of paper as the bookshelves or you can paint on lines to represent the shelving.

Think of things you would normally see on shelves around a home. Books, sure. Youll find many sources for book bindings you can display. Cut book-theme scrapbook paper into bookmark-shaped pieces and stick them to the wall, so they appear to sit on the shelf. Make other books by cutting a piece of tape and writing a book title and author on it with a marker. If you own books with torn book covers cut the binding area off of them and use them as the wall books. Group books together and even lean one or two "books" to one side. Stack several books horizontally and stand others up vertically. Cut images of vases, picture frames, novelties, statuettes and similar things from a department store catalog or other source. Cut out the images and place them on a fake shelf. Just tape or glue the cutouts to the wall so that they appear to sit on the shelf. Make vases appear more realistic by cutting tiny pieces of fake flowers and attaching them to the wall near the mouth of the vase. Cut shapes from wallpaper, scrapbook paper and even contact paper to make additional vases, candles and other things. Cut pictures of family members, pets and other photos and stick them to the wall. Cover around the photos with frames from a craft stores scrapbook aisle. These will lend more to the realistic look of the fake bookshelves. Youre going to have a lot of fun building your fake bookshelves which actually look quite realistic - at first glance. This is the type of project for those who love to get creative but have a small budget.