I love rescuing furniture. I just LOVE it. And this piece was in desperate need of rescue. Found at a local flea market, this solid wood, detailed beauty was a diamond in the rough.
As soon as I saw it, I knew it was the perfect piece to makeover for this month’s FurnitureREFRESH submission. You see the theme this month is “All In The Details” and this bookcase naturally had some detail. It also had some serious damage though. Hence this bookcase makeover with driftwood planks.
(Also, did you miss our last FurnitureREFRESH submissions? You should check out our Harvest Inspired Console Table and our Weathered Metal Vintage Card Catalogue too!)
Alright – here’s the before. 
Along with the deep gouges and (what felt like) millions of dings and scratches, there was also this very awful scar on top of the bookcase. 
I turned immediately to one of my fave brands – FAT Paint Co. and gave them whole thing a dry brush coat in Bella Blue. It started to hide some of the unfixable damage right away. But that stain on top was still showing through after a few hours of curing. The remedy for that is to actually add stain-blocking primer ON TOP of your first coat of chalky finish paint. I know, it seems counter intuitive. But it’s the best way to clear up a spot stain on a piece. So I added a healthy amount of Para Paints Stain blocker to the stain and let it cure for two days before proceeding. I really wanted to make sure it didn’t come back.
A second coat of Bella Blue and she was starting to sing like a mermaid. 🙂 Look at those sides! Gorgeous, I tell ya!
You’ll notice that I didn’t do the bookcase back. Truthfully, the backs of bookcases and cabinets are the MOST annoying to paint by hand.
Remember that poplar plywood I used in my last project post where I built a little rustic mail sorter out of scrap boards? Ya. Well, I turned to that beautiful stuff again!
Using my circular saw, I ripped a whole bunch of ‘bricks’ out of my plywood in varying sizes. The only thing I made sure of is that the pieces, when put together, would cover the back of my shelves.
Also, let’s just talk about daylight saving time and the stupid time the sun sets now. We are moving into the time of year where getting good shots of furniture is going to be really hard. 🙁 Blerg. 
One more look? Okay 🙂
In case you missed it – I decided not to part with this bookshelf and kept it as part of our living room makeover. You can see the first few details in our latest post where we talk about decorating with neutrals and metallics.
Now don’t forget to check out all these other fabulous flips and #FurnitureREFRESH submissions.
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