How to fix a damaged shelf edge!

This was one of those things that could either have been a waste of time or work really well.  I’m happy to say it was the latter!

Some of the shelving found in our closets were chipped and damaged. Most of it was melamine shelving and seeing chunks of it flake off the edge made the shelving look old and ratty.

I started Googling how to fix it.

The first option was an obvious one – replace the shelving. But most of them were nailed, glued, (cemented!) in place and removing them would require sanding, a new paint job, finding new shelving, installing them, etc.  More steps than I was willing to commit to.

Option 2 was using iron-on melamine edging. But having to chip away at the remaining shelf edge to get it all off was not how I wanted to spend my evenings.

What was my fix?  Inspired by Young House Love’s post, ribbon and double-sided tape!

The process was pretty simple: I measured the thickness of the shelf (about 5/8”) and found ribbon at Michaels’ that had the same thickness:

Then I took double-sided tape, adhered the product onto the ribbon and slowly applied the ribbon to the shelf edge and cut it at the end point:

And voila! My chipped, worn shelf edge looked like new!

Easy eh? I’ve been using this trick everywhere in the house and it has given these shelves a new life!  Give it a try and let me know what you think!

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