Before
After
While out shopping I saw this little beauty sitting and waiting for someone to swoop it up and give it some love. I thought this would be a great piece that could be used in several different rooms of a home: library, bedroom, home office, entry way, etc. Of course, this would be after it was cleaned up!
I didn’t particularly like the backing on this so my first step was to take off the back of the bookcase with a hammer. Tip: if you hammer lightly along the edges you can get it out easily in one piece.
To cover up the flawed back I decided to use material. I glued the material to the back using a mixture of tacky glue and water. Use enough water to thin out the glue so it is easier to spread across the back.
I then glued the material to the backing. Make sure and smooth out the materials so it does not dry wrinkled. Place to the side to let dry.
Now it’s time to focus on the top. No amount of sanding was going to make this top smooth so I thought I would cover it with some wood strips that I use to trim with.
I cut the strips into various lengths to cover the top so it looked staggered, attaching them to the top with a hot glue gun.
Next I moved on to the sides, which looked pretty boring. So to give them some dimension, I also cut and attached wood strips to the both sides.
I then painted the sections that I wanted painted black. I did end up painted the insides of the case black too.
Onto those nasty inside shelves. I cut plywood to fit into the shelving areas and nailed them on top of the existing shelves. For the top inside shelf I added a piece of the wood trim to the front of the shelf to make the shelf appear thicker.
All the exposed wood was stained in Minwax Provincial. I always wipe the stain on with a rag but you can also apply with a brush and wipe the excess away with a rag.
Putting stain on unfinished wood dries pretty fast so after a couple hours I then applied a clear top coat to the whole bookcase.
After the clear coat dried, I attached the backing and another project complete! YEAH!
Customer Photo
Thank you for reading!! I’m looking forward to sharing my next project with you!!
Amy
Facebook: Sirpilla’s Shabby to Chic
Hi, I’m Amy. I love to repurpose, refinish and decorate with thrift store finds. Making something new out of something old is what inspires me! I’m a thrift shop addict who would like to share my DIY projects with you.