Want to see a free bookshelf I painted for Sonia?
Last summer, Sonia was saying she'd like another bookshelf.
Remember this free one that I did for her a few years ago?
Click here for lots of before, during, and after pictures of that project!
I love that bookshelf so, so much. It's such a solid piece and has classic, beautiful lines.
Anyway, since she's the only child left at the other house, she's converted one of the bedrooms into a little office for herself, and a bookshelf seemed like an important addition.
I came across a free one on Facebook Marketplace, and we all know how I like the price of $0. 😉
So, we went to pick it up in my van and I started working on it.
This is one of those pieces of furniture that is a combo of solid wood and veneer/particleboard.
But I have done enough work with pieces like that to know that it can work. Heck, the sides of my kitchen cabinets at the other house were fake wood, and those turned out just fine.
(Click here to see my painted kitchen cabinet project.)
Anyway!
I did my usual process, which you've seen a zillion times:
- sand, using my orbital sander
- prime with Zinnser 1-2-3 primer
- caulk any gaps, using DAP latex caulk
- paint with Benjamin Moore Advance paint (in Cloud White, satin sheen)
Those are Amazon links, but you should definitely look for the primer and caulk at a local store; they're usually cheaper than Amazon. The sander is a good price at Amazon, though!
Bookshelves are SO MUCH WORK to redo because they have tons and tons of visible surface area.
By comparison, a dresser is way easier! No one sees the interior parts of a dresser, so you don't have to mess with them at all.
But every surface of a bookshelf is visible, and on a bookshelf this big, there's a lotta labor involved in priming and painting all those surfaces.
I only do one coat of primer, but it usually takes several coats of paint for the finish to be perfect, so you can imagine how many hours of painting that requires!
I also had to paint all the little brown shelf brackets. I tried spray paint first, but the color was too cool to match the Cloud White paint.
So I did a coat of the Benjamin Moore paint, using a tiny brush.
Anyway, I did eventually get it done, and my dad and I delivered it to Sonia. It's so heavy, there's no way Sonia and I could have done it by ourselves!
This shelf has a built-in light, so of course Sonia decided to fill some of her shelves with plants.
And here's how that looks without the light on.
Remember how I was saying I caulk to fill in gaps? Here's an example...the seam on the side of this shelf looked dark once I painted.
But once it's caulked (and I paint over the caulk), the seam basically disappears.
Considering this is a bookshelf, Sonia doesn't have a lot of actual books in it. But that's because all of her books are on the other bookshelf that I painted for her!
I love it when bookshelves come with a thick molding on the bottom; it makes them look so substantial.
And I love it when they have the crown molding up top too.
While I was over taking pictures, Sonia wanted me to show this to you guys; it's a little swan plant pot that I rescued from the abandoned house, and Sonia made a macrame hanger for it so she could hang it in front of one of her windows.
Anyway! Here's what I started with.
And here's how it looks now.
I used supplies I'd already bought for other projects, so I don't have a good idea of exactly how many dollars I spent on this. But I do know that it's way less than a comparable new bookshelf would have cost.
Obviously, that's excluding the cost of my time (!!) But I did most of the work when I wasn't in school and wasn't particularly busy.
And besides, I'm happy to put hours into:
- things for my kids
- projects that rescue and rehab unwanted items
Over the last year, I did four bookshelf projects...three for me, and one for Sonia. I dearly hope I will not lose my mind and take any more of those on anytime soon!
How's the $5 slightly distressed stand coming along? Or did I miss the finish on that one? (I do enjoy these posts.)
@Bobi, I’ve been wondering about that, too!
I ran out of mojo and time! But life is looking a little calmer these next two weeks, so I'm hoping to get it finished!
Bookcases! That does look lovely. Wouldn't it be so much easier if we could disassemble them for rehab?
I do love me some bookcases. It took me a long time to find just the right ones:
- full height (7');
- fully adjustable (pin holes all the way up, all the way down, and all the way to the fixed shelf);
- extra shelves available for purchase;
- attractive trim that doesn't block access to the shelves; and
- wood, not wood-colored or particleboard.
Kristen, you should sit down because not only do I keep books, I keep many of them. I have 11 bookcases and that's not enough for the collection. I have about 2500 books. They make me happy. During the pandemic I set up my office in the "library" and even three years later, it makes me happy to look around at all my books.
@WilliamB, In my previous house, I had bookcases in every room including the kitchen and dining room(s). 17 and they were all stuffed full. We read a lot. I've hugely downsized, though, I had to. I have 7 bookshelves now and that's not enough but I will cull some.
@WilliamB, DH not only loved books, but felt happy surrounded by them (as I still do). Even long after DH couldn't read any more, he loved to look at his full bookshelves.
And with that said, @Rose, I've been downsizing the library in recent years, as you have had to. I'm actually reaching the point where I could get rid of a few bookshelves.
@WilliamB, In my house-before-this-house, I converted a bedroom into a library and during renovations had floor to ceiling bookcases built in, with an opening for a sleep sofa so I could still use it for a guest room. So many books! I had to sell a couple thousand before I moved. Then once I bought this house I ... converted a bedroom into a library and had floor to ceiling bookcases built in, leaving space for the sleep sofa so I could still use it for a guest room. And filled it up with another couple thousand books. And the beat goes on...
@A. Marie,
I feel the same way...I love being surrounded by my books.
@ Rose and @ WilliamB, I just mentally went through my house to figure out how many bookcases we have.....the number is at least 8, counting the bookcase in my kitchen for my cookbooks.
@JDinNM, Definitely not frugal! But definitely not a fail. No way could I have thrifted 10 to 12 foot tall bookcases to fill a 12X15 foot room in a pre-war East Coast city condominium.
Haha, that is how Sonia's house will be when she gets her own place. She already has two bookcases of her own that do house books. 😉
@WilliamB,
2500! Wow. Books are definitely on my list of things that make me happy as well. But I have had to pare my collection down to 300 or so.
When I was a kid I helped my brother with his paper route back when you went house-to-house to collect the subscription fee. I remember being invited into an apartment where a couple lived while they got their money together. The furniture was shabby and not much of it except for the bookshelves! Bookshelves lined every wall and were crammed full of books. I thought that apartment was heaven!
I'm so glad I'm in good company with the book collections.
PS: My new house has a lot of built-in bookcases as well. An embarasment of riches.
@WilliamB, ok, ok, all the book people made me wonder…what does being a “bookie” do for your life besides happy.
I found this: “The readers who read over 3.5 hours a week lived a full 23 months longer than the people who didn’t read at all. That extended lifespan applied to all reading participants, regardless of “gender, wealth, education or health” factors, the study explains. That’s a 20% reduction in mortality created by a sedentary activity.” A Yale study in the journal Social Science and Medicine.
@Tiana, Very cool. I wonder if the amounts scale: if I read 35 hours aweek, do I live 230 months longer? Or even 46 months?
Wow! I would have never thought to sand and paint a wood finish like that. When my (now-former) roommate moved in, we needed more kitchen pantry space. I took an entertainment center designed for an old-style TV and moved it to the kitchen. It's the same faux wood finish that your bookshelves were in the "before" picture. Which is OK because it sorta kinda matches our paneling and cabinetry. I had some wicker storage baskets that were trash picked, and we put those in some of the squares; we put canned goods and bags of beans, flour, rice and pasta inside the baskets. Serving bowls and other foodstuff were put on the shelves that didn't have baskets. Roommate's waist-high mini-fridge was set on the sturdy middle area designed for the TV, after we took away all the shelves above it. There was a cabinet on the bottom and the cabinet's strong top was what we set the refrigerator on. It's just the right height for access. The only thing I disliked about this arrangement was that the bottom of the shelves were unfinished particle board; you could see them and it was ugly. I happened to be shopping at Salvation Army thrift store and saw the solution to this: someone who had donated a bookshelf had painted the particle board side of their shelves and the shelving looked a whole lot better. So I did this to our entertainment center, painting the particle board side and unfinished edges a blue to match our vintage dishes. We put the painted sides up, and it looks really cute. This doubled our kitchen storage and was really handy. I may even keep it in there, even though I will soon have empty shelves in the real pantry (three floor-to-ceiling cabinets) now that the roommate is gone. (I've decided from now on, I'm living solo! Unless Prince Charming arrives on the scene...)
Oh, and I got the entertainment center very cheap off Craigslist, $20 I think, and had used it in the den for the stereo. The cabinet door had lost a knob so I went to Habitat ReStore and found two very solid brass knobs for a dime each. (ReStore has since raised its prices, so I doubt I could get anything that cheap today). They make it look really upscale! I salvaged the knobs that came with the furniture for use elsewhere. There was one knob but two fancy-looking metal backings and I used the latter for a cabinet in the half bathroom. Screwed the backings behind the cabinet knobs so the whole thing looks sorta kinda vintage Victorian.
The cabinet was actually another piece of particle board furniture that had started life as a bathroom space saver and moved with me from Florida to Texas, in a house, an apartment and 2 townhouses before moving to this house. By then its lower wooden (particle board) sides that served as legs were beginning to warp and buckle from the humidity, but the top cabinet part was still good. So we took off the "legs", and fastened the cabinet part on the wall of the half-bath here. It looks really good in there! Like it was original to the house. I'd bought that space saver from Big Lots, I think it was, back in 2001, and have used it ever since -- I believe I got my money's worth!
Love the bookshelf and...
Shout out to both of you for the outstanding swan plant holder - reused vintage @ its finest & perfectly showcased by Sonia's handmade macrame hanger. This is truly spectacular - so unique & creative! Please pass along kudos to Sonia.
@Lisa M., Sonia has clearly inherited her mother's creativity!
@A. Marie, Indeed she has!
When I worked at a popular restaurant chain store, they were getting rid of 2 solid wooden bookshelves that they used to years. So they sold them to me for $20. each. I took them home, filled in all the holes and redid them. I needed a larger bookcase when we moved, so I sold my bookcase for $50. and gave the other one to my daughter. I was very proud of the rehabbing I did on those shelves.
That came out splendidly! The molding really does make the bookcase look both substantial and classy in its fresh coat of paint.
Bookcases are nonnegotiable in our world, to the point that I measured for them when we were house shopping. Our largest bookcase is over 8 ft long, built as one piece by my Dad, who missed his calling as a carpenter. All the windows in our little house are floor to ceiling, so there is exactly ONE uninterrupted wall long enough for Dad’s bookcase! It’s the only visible furniture in our bedroom besides the bed (our shared dresser is tucked in the closet). It’s filled to capacity, as are five smaller bookcases elsewhere in the house. The back/shelf-side of our antique standalone dining bar is just another bookcase for us!
Great job!! Impressive
The swan planter is so pretty in its macrame hanger. I’ve never seen anything like it. All the bookcases are nice. I don’t have anything to put in a bookcase so I don’t have any. My son made a cute Lego bonsai tree but the cat tries to eat it so it’s in a cabinet.
Thanks for the tip about caulking furniture. I wouldn't have thought to do that and I can see what an improvement it made.
It makes such a big difference when you are painting furniture a light color! I love it.
@Kristen, I wish I had known that little trick when I painted a dresser a couple of years ago. Live and learn.
Way to go, Momma! It looks amazing and you can tell that there's a lot of love poured into that bookshelf.
The rehab of the bookcase is impressive but I have to say the hanging swan planter takes the prize for imagination!
I love the swan planter!! And I'm always a fan of bookshelves. :-)
The bookshelf looks really elegant and classic now! Your paint work is always top notch. And tell Sonia that her swan plant pot redo with the macrame holder is fantastic! So cute! Especially with that choice of plant in it.
Amazing, and I love the pink lighting, so cute!!!
Apparently, that's the color of the bulb that is good for those plants. But it does also look cool!
The bookcase looks lovely-well done again!
It looks Fab. I like the styling! Woooo
The styling is ALL Sonia. 🙂
It is lovely, and so is the swan.
You have an interesting little desk to put your paint on, will you be rehabbing that too or is it just for convenience?
It's actually a sewing machine cabinet that is from the abandoned house. I hope to sand it down and restain it, but there are other projects in the way first!
I love the swan so much!!
And the bookshelf - and the love you poured into it with all your hard work.
It turned out great! I have an espresso colour bookshelf that I want to paint white but it seems so daunting without a sprayer that I keep putting it off.
Kristen,
I should know this from reading your many painting blog posts, but how do you apply your Ben Moore Advance? Sprayer, roller, bristle brush, or foam brush? Thank you!
Hello, did you ever consider chalk painting. Annie Sloan is my preference, but so easy. Did my mother in laws old veneered buffet and china cabinet with a very lite grey and very soft pink inside about 15 years ago. No sanding, no priming. It’s still looks great and with everyday use.
Love the swan and macramé!