Painting Bookcases

I decided to paint the bookcases in my daughter's old bedroom which I guess should be called the guest room, but really will always be her room. I have tried for the past two years to grow it up, but it still has her stuff in it and while I have taken a ton of it and stuffed in drawers, I have not completely "unLindsayed" it.

She has had the bookcases since she was about 6 or 7 years old. They were white and were perfectly for an elementary aged girl.

When we moved into our current home, she was in middle school and I toned them down by painting the doors and the background the same as her wall color. She had so much stuff on them until it worked. Ribbons and photos of friends made it last until high school was over.

They were well built custom made that we bought from another teacher many years ago.

I have thought about getting new ones, but I really don't think I could buy anything new that would be as well made, sturdy, and have the storage. They are solid wood through and through.

At the encouragement of Hubby, I painted them. My goal was to make them be less noticeable.

I think I achieved that. Do I love them? I don't know.

I guess that probably means I don't.

They will stay this color though, because it was not an easy job. I chose a semi gloss paint which was the dickens to paint with.

Hubby sanded them and I used the same stuff I used on the cabinet at the farm on the laminate shelf. This the top of the base.

Then Hubby added hardware to dress them up.

I have one more thing I am going to do in there and then it is a finished room...you hear me...finished.

We are going to swap out the bed with a poster bed we have at the cabin. We won't have to move mattresses, just the head and footboards.

The bed at the cabin is actually the bed that with our master bedroom furniture and we upgraded to a king.

Her bed is a more recent purchase when the antique bed she had broke due to boys trying to jump over it. Boys will be boys.

The poster bed should look better with the antique dresser and nightstand and hopefully look a little nicer with the new brown on the bookcases.

Anyway, this project took a full week to do. Everything had to have two coats and they had to fully dry between times. With the shelves you had to do one side twice and then the other side twice. Took a lot of drying time and moving around.

Really glad to be done with it.

Like I said, like them or not...they are staying this way.

My son walked in one day while painting and said they looked great. I think my struggle is that they would appeal to a boy and I am still thinking of this as a girl's room rather than a guest room.

I can't part with my books too, so that is a reason to keep them.

This picture is just because I like it.

All painted out for January,

Sandy