Hello my wonderful friends,
I have waited what seems like a lifetime to bring this post to you!
Not only that but waiting to finish it!
*This post contains some Amazon affiliate links in which I earn a small percentage from qualifying purchases through these links, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for helping to support my blog! *
Back in May or June, I can’t even remember when I wanted to paint the many bookcases we have downstairs.
A little history on the bookshelves.
They are about 20 years old.
They were bought from Walmart.
In fact, you can find them here in black and white. I do believe these are the same as I have.
They are just inexpensive ones. I think I paid $25 a piece back in the day.
And I choose an oak color.
We seriously needed shelving and so I purchased 4 at the time because that is all we could afford.
Much later I bought 4 more from Walmart.
Only problem.
The first four I purchased were a light oak color and the second four were brown.
Just between you and me, I love dust! I know you can’t tell there isn’t any in the picture above, but there is!
When I went to buy the second time around the picture and description both looked the same.
Lesson learned.
Buy what you need all at once.
Save up if you need to.
So, I just went with it.
See what I mean!
Fast forward to about a year ago and I wanted brighter bookshelves.
Our downstairs living room/family room is already dark and so I wanted to lighten it up a bit.
Something that didn’t show two different browns.
Why I didn’t order white to begin with is beyond me.
Not wanting to go out and buy eight new bookshelves because of the cost and because ours were still in excellent shape, I decided to paint ours.
It took a while because I had a job that had odd hours and I was limited to painting on the weekends.
Do you want to see them?
Do you like them?
What a difference, right?!
It brightened the room so much!
First, these bookshelves are made out of particle board with a veneer overlay.
And trying to find information on how to paint these shelves proved difficult.
You can’t be heavy-handed with the sanding because it would take the veneer off and leave an uneven surface to paint.
I decided I needed to find a great primer.
Why?
I tried to paint with a primer built into the paint, but it wiped off.
I used Kilz, which is a wonderful primer but the tannins in the veneer came through and the primer itself came off in various spots.
Now I want to mention, at this point, I had sanded and I cleaned the bookshelves with TSP.
So back to the drawing board I went.
I decided to try PPG Gripper.
It is an Acrylic Primer and Sealer, for Interior and Exterior use, stain and tannin blocker.
You can find it at your local hardware store such as Home Depot.
I tested a few spots and it worked great.
I set up an assembly line of sorts and started painting.
First the primer.
Some areas required a second coat.
It worked great!
It stuck to the bookshelves.
Next step, painting.
I used my favorite color Burnished Clay by Behr.
Check out my clock that I painted in the same color.
I used a paintbrush to get into all the corners.
I used a roller on the shelving and flat areas.
This is similar to what I used here.
It is a very lengthy process when you have 8 bookshelves to paint.
It was at this point that I got sick with Covid and was down for 4 weeks.
The shelves themselves still needed to be painted.
I honestly didn’t want to or have the energy to paint them all.
You can imagine 8 bookshelves having a ton of shelves to paint.
My husband had the bright idea to leave them their original colors.
I was not keen on this idea at first.
AT FIRST.
But wanting to finish them, I decided to go with it.
This brought another dilemma.
Not only were the shelves not painted, but they were also two different colors AND the bottoms of the shelving units were different heights as well.
Do you ever feel it is 1 step forward just to take 5 steps backward?
I decided to alternate the bookshelves.
Two dark-colored shelves then two light-colored shelves.
I told my husband I would start a trend, lol.
A different look, a different approach!
When all said and done, I am in love with the results.
I did have two spots that needed touching up after putting the shelves into place.
Now, all of the units are uniform.
Next, I wanted them to look built-in, but I wasn’t very confident in my trimming abilities, so opted to not add it for now.
I can always go back and add it later.
I did, however, want to add something to the bottom of the bookcases.
Just something that gave it a more finished look.
Now the height difference comes into play.
I thought about raising four of them up but that would mean the height difference is now at the top and I didn’t want to add a trim.
I had some leftover 1×2 boards.
My husband actually thought of this.
He stacked them on top of each other.
And guess what??
It worked.
It looked good.
It looked like it was meant to be.
I nailed them in place.
Filled the holes.
And painted.
I painted the trim in Falling Snow by Behr.
It gives it some contrast.
It was a long process.
Figuring out the paint.
The shelving.
The trim.
But in the end?
It was so worth it.
I am loving it and the family loves it.
What a difference paint makes.
I highly recommend painting your bookshelves.
Whether one or twenty.
It will make a world of difference.
It also made our living room so much brighter.
I finally got the books and collectibles back in.
I can mark this off the list with great joy!!
I hope you give this a try if you have been thinking of painting your bookshelves.
It is not hard but time-consuming.
And so satisfying when done.
Even with all the obstacles, I would paint them again.
One more for the road.
So I am here to tell you that laminate bookshelves can be painted successfully!
*Most of the items you see on the bookshelves came from yard sales or Goodwill.*
*Some pictures are not the best quality. I am still working on that!*
*This post contains some Amazon affiliate links in which I earn a small percentage from qualifying purchases through these links, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for helping to support my blog! *