Re-purposed Bookcases in 5 Steps

The bookcases that I re-purposed were my grandmothers who passed away in 2012. Here is my lovely grandmother.

We miss her dearly. She was such a sweet lady. It was a hard time to see her suffer from heart disease; it was long and drawn out. Never easy. Prior to her passing, she asked everyone in the family who wanted what of her belongings. Grandma! It doesn't matter I would say, that's not what's important. But she would insist. Anyway, no one seemed to want her set of brown bookcases, in fairly rough condition, with old hardware, etc.

I regret that I didn't take before pictures. Ugh, what was I thinking!? I searched for old family pictures taken at her house hoping that they would be in the background. I know that they exist! I just don't have any myself. I'm sure that some of my family members have some. If they are reading this, please, take a gander for me so I can attach before pictures! So, I don't know how "impressive" of a re-purpose this will be without before pictures, but I can at least give some knowledge of how we painted these old bookcases with veneer. I can assure you, these were definitely outdated even though you probably won't be able to tell in the "after" photos. I'm guessing they are from the 80's - maybe even before my time!

First - It is important to make sure that none of the veneer is peeling. Luckily for us, everything was still in tact. That's saying a lot considering the age of these bookcases! If you find that your veneer is peeling, use wood glue to affix it back to where it belongs.

Second - Clean the surface. We had layers of dust, cob webs, um, crumbs (?). Paint don't have time for that.

Third - Do some light sanding. Just enough to create a little bit of a rougher surface so that the primer and paint really adhere. After sanding, clean up all your sanding dust.

Fourth - Apply at least 2 coats of primer, allowing a full 24 hours for it to cure after the last coat.

Fifth - Paint that beaut! We didn't use anything fancy for paint. Just regular old indoor paint in an eggshell finish. Put your bookcase (or whatever you are re-purposing) back together with some new fancy hardware.

Here is our finished product.

We are still decorating, so no, not totally complete yet.
Appropriately, my grandmothers service flag sits on top. What an honor to give these bookcases new life and have her there with them. I think of her every time I see them.

I hope that this blog post has given you some inspiration to re-purpose something. If I can find before pictures I will post them. The difference is remarkable.

Have a wonderful Thursday!

Big news coming soon.....