Reused Pallet Boards for Bookshelf backing

Hi Ya'll!

I wanted to share a project that my sweet hubby helped me with.  I'm starting to think he doesn't like me using his power tools. ;)

We had a narrow Hemnes bookshelf from Ikea and I didn't like how cave like it seemed in the corner.  For Christmas last year I cut pieces of cardboard and covered them with wrapping paper and I liked how that looked, but I didn't want the red year round - especially with our wall color. 

Here is the before.

 

It's a good looking bookcase, and I don't really have any issues besides being bored with what I have.

I don't know how many upcycled pallet tutorials I have read, but I know that it has been many.  In none of what I read did they mention how incredibly hard it is to take apart a pallet to use the individual boards.  My husband took over this task due to him thinking it took me too long. He quickly found out why I was taking so long.  We had to use a crowbar wedged in between the base and the individual board and hammer the crowbar to pry the two apart. Holding a crowbar while hammering said crowbar will cause a lot of reverb in your hand - not very comfy!

Once we got the individual boards off and cut to size with a table saw we lightly spray painted them white and then sanded to distressed and smooth any rough spots.

Thankfully, the back of the bookshelf is only held on with short tiny nails; making it super easy to remove.  After removal we laid the boards on the back of the bookcase to be nailed.  The hubby used finishing brads and a nail gun to secure the boards to the shelf.

You can see in the picture below that 1) the brads are coming out the side of the shelf. Apparently he hit a metal piece that caused the nail to not go in straight. 2) the hubby likes to color coordinate to our paint color. hehe

 

You can see below that the boards are not super white.  I wanted a more worn/rustic look and I think that we achieved that and lighten up the little cave.

 

Any questions on the how-to just ask!