DIY CHINOISERIE ETAGERE

My tiny little apartment suffers from awkward corner syndrome. In 425 square feet, there are five doorways/doors, a bump out, and numerous soffits. Some of the corners even have corners. So, part of my challenge has been finding pieces of furniture that will fit the space. One such spot was an 11 inch deep corner leading into the closet area. I REALLY needed to use the space for storage, but without making it feel even smaller. An etagere seemed like the perfect answer, but all the beautiful vintage pieces I found were just too deep. So I decided to MAKE an etagere. By which I mean:  go to IKEA and alter something they sold.

Here it is! A Chinoiserie etagere.

IKEA makes this VITTSJO shelving unit for $70. The open concept and glass shelves would keep the space from feeling overwhelmed, and there was plenty of room to stack books. The only problem was the black color, which didn't play nice with my green walls.

So I broke out the Rustoleum...

And then emailed Danika Herrick, founder of the fantastic company O'verlays, to ask if they had anything that would suss up a plain iron shelf. A week later, these arrived:  greek key corners! 

BEFORE

AFTER!

Seriously, O'verlays are the best thing since sliced bread. "Transforming" my shelf required about 10 minutes, some gorilla glue, and masking tape (to hold the greek key pieces in place while the glue dried). I waited an hour for good measure, whipped the tape off, and enjoyed my new Chinoiserie etagere. The O'verlay pieces are paintable, so you could customize them to any shade. I was lucky that they were already white!

A "through" view of the shelf. I love how spacious it feels, without blocking the view into the living room.

Check out all the other amazing O'verlay patterns HERE, and you can find my greek key corners HERE. A few more patterns and ideas below...

An O'verlay pattern under glass, dressing up a plain hall table. They also look great over mirrors.

On an ikea chest of drawers (also, Danika painted that wall herself. She's very talented).

/Images/ my own/ black shelf image, IKEA/ O'verlay patterns, O'verlays/