Bookcase Makeover

 I have this old bookcase, once painted white to match my daughter's room. She's grown up and moved out and I had to do something with this well worn, yet sturdy piece.

First, I pried off the back and sanded down many layers of paint. Then, two coats of semi-gloss paint in a bright color on the frame (in my favorite color.)


While that was drying I got out some craft paper and Mod Podge. I've never used this stuff before so it was a challenge. I laid out my paper and trimmed the edges to fit. I spread some Mod Podge with a fine paint brush and carefully laid the paper down and pressed out the air bubbles. Once it was in place and looked good, I moved on to the next sheet.

After all the paper was Mod Podged down, I put two coats of Mod Podge over the whole thing.

Confession; After getting them all down with the Mod Podge the first time, there was a major air bubble on the middle of one sheet. I made the big mistake of trying to smudge it out when it wasn't quite dry yet and ripped the paper. ArrGGGhhh! I had to peal that piece off as best as I could, sand a bit, wipe it down and then put on another sheet of craft paper. Good thing I bought extra!

Once finished I let it dry over night. If this had been a table or something that would have gotten a lot of hands on wear and tear, I would have let it dry for 4 days and then put on a more protective finish.  Back of a bookcase? I nailed it back together the next day. And here you have it!

 If I had it to do over again I might have YouTubed how to do Mod Podge and maybe avoided my air-bubble mistake.

I'm using this for a storage shelf in my art room and I'm pretty happy how it came out.

Now I've got my eye on that worn little end table in the living room....

Happy painting!