Thanks, Adam!

Bookcase Re-do



Our brother, Adam, left this bookcase in our garage.  Dibs!  Tracy is the furniture painter.  But I thought I'd try this one myself.  The bookcase is the usual funky plastic-type laminate with cardboard on the back, so after some research (how to paint laminate!), I took this one on.  Sanding is tricky with laminate.  You need to rough it up so the paint will stick, but sanding too much can actually remove the laminate or create air pockets under it, so be careful!  

I decided to add moulding to the top and bottom.  I discovered something.  I suck at mitered corners!  Thank goodness for wood putty.  Tracy scored with a huge pile of FREE moulding (actually baseboard) advertised on Craigslist.  So after a couple of trys, I was moderately successful.  I primed it with Zinsser Bullseye Primer and Sealer and then put on two coats of Valspar Satin Dark Kettle Black.  This also has a primer in it so I hoped the combo would work with the laminate.  I sanded lightly between the two coats of paint.

Now the fun part.  I found some great material remnants (end of bolt) at Walmart of all places.  Another score!  I flipped the bookcase over so the back was up.  I measured my material that way and cut it to fit.  With both shelves in place, it was a little tricky.  But I managed to secure the material with spray adhesive, using an exacto knife to finish off the edges.  A thin coat of Annie Sloan's pastewax finished it. 

I'm very happy with the results!