How I Created This DIY Bobbin Wardrobe Hack Using Paint and Wallpaper

I recently completed this furniture flip as part of a social media campaign for high street giants Dunelm and I was so pleased with how it came out, I thought I’d share the ‘after’ photos and a step-by-step guide to how I achieved the look here on the blog.

My son desperately required a new wardrobe - he is now 9 years old and I hadn’t upgraded his clothes storage since he was a tiny baby. His wardrobe has to be positioned in a narrow alcove in his bedroom, so I had to find a solid (yet slim) flat-pack that I could get up the stairs easily and build in the corner. Dunelm’s Panama double pine wardrobe was a perfect choice; even though I liked the rustic design, I wanted to personalise it to give it a bright, modern look that slotted into this already colourful space.

While painting the wardrobe was an obvious but effective way to transform it, I decided to go one step further and wallpaper the inside, change up the handles and add some on-trend strip bobbin detailing.

I built the main flat-pack structure (minus the doors, clothes rail supports and the door brackets, as these would need to be removed before painting and wallpapering anyway) and gave the exterior sides and the front of the wardrobe a light sand with fine-grade sandpaper. I separately sanded each door (front and back) before cleaning everything using a clean rag and some sugar soap.

The next step was to apply two coats of stain-blocking primer to all visible exterior areas of the wardrobe and the doors (a primer gives you a prepared surface to paint on, while a stain blocker is a must to stop wood knots from seeping through the paintwork). I also primed the interior shelf and wooden clothes rail as I thought these would look best painted. Once the primer was dry, I applied two coats of Dunelm’s own brand eggshell paint in ‘Ashley Blue’ with a mini low-pile roller suitable for cabinet painting and woodwork.

Once everything was painted and touch-dry, I set about wallpapering the inside. I only required one roll of Dunelm’s on-trend checkerboard wallpaper in ‘natural’ and I used a light yellow top wallpaper paste which I applied inside the wardrobe and to the back of the paper with a wide paintbrush. I measured out the wallpaper before I pasted it and covered all the interior surfaces so that you couldn’t see any wood remaining. The only part that I had to work the paper around was the central shelf, as I added on the rail and door hardware at a later date.

Once the wallpaper had dried overnight, I drilled in the clothes rail and hung the doors. I screwed in a different set of door handles to what came with the Panama set and applied strips of bobbin moulding that I purchased from Decwood to the door panel indents using a grab adhesive (I primed and painted the bobbin moulding before glueing it on for a better finish).

This is the end result! I love the vivid sky blue shade and the wallpaper is really transformative on the inside. For a quick-time video on the transformation, click here to view it on my Instagram page.