THE NEW LIFE OF A DULL BOOKCASE

After moving into the new house in Dublin we had decided to change some of the furniture in the house, as we had brought with us some borrowed furniture whose style was very diverse and was not of great quality.

A white battered bookcase that was being used as a bookcase in the previous appartment, happened to be rescued.

At first, we started using it to store shoes, which was quite useful because we have a terrace-gallery that was becoming a municipal storage and fit very well there for that.

But the truth is that in the SECOND BEDROOM I needed a place to put some books, photo albums and various items that were still in the boxes as they did not have a proper place to go.

So I thought: why not use this bookcase instead of buying a new one?

The main reason for not using it was that it was yellowish and scratched, but the reality is that it fit nicely in the room.

As what it needed was a coat of paint, I thought that I would take the opportunity to change the colour a bit to give it a different touch. I would paint the interior medium-brown colour, and the outside white outside, matching the bed.

MATERIALS

Masking tape.
Brown paint, in my case I used Chalk Paint because it is a paint with a chalk effect that looks great for any piece of furniture. The paint I used was AUTENTICO VINTAGE URBAN GREY. This paint needs finishing wax but does not need primer.
White paint that also uses Chalk Paint, in this case it was AUTENTICO EGGSHELL FINISH BRIGHT WHITE. This paint does not need finishing wax, however depending on the type of base on which it will be applied, it may need a primer.
Primer: AUTENTICO PRIMER.
Brush
Roller
AUTENTICO FURNITURE WAX, CLEAR FINISH. (There is dark, clear or white wax and each of them alters the color of the paint to darker or clear tone except the clear that keeps it unchanged)

In reality the process does not need much explanation because it only consisted of painting it, but I will do a quick review with a few tips.

Also after seeing how simple it is, it may convince you that it is a task that you can do too.

1- Paint with the primer where you are going to use a paint that requires it. In my case, the dark part needed this primer so I just applied it to the inside of the furniture.

2- To apply the colour always begin painting the corners with a palette because if you paint the rest with a roller, it will be very difficult to reach. Every new paint job always starts there. The roller will then leave a better finish that is better not to redo.

3- When painting colour changes use the masking tape or painter tape. Protect the furniture piece the side that goes in the color opposite to the one that you are painting at that moment, just on the edge of change of colour.

4- Paint with a roller if you want your finish to be as smooth as possible. Also for large surfaces, this is much faster.

The Chalk Paint is quite thick. You can add a little water to make it lighter but this may require you to apply a few additional coats.

Leave to dry at least 1 hour between each coat and pass a fine sandpaper before giving each new pass.

5- If your paint needs finishing wax apply after having let dry the necessary time (1 hour in case of Chalk Paint). You can apply it with a palette or with a cotton cloth without applying too much pressure. Leave it 15 minutes and then remove the excess with a rag. After this, let dry a few hours.

6- It is advisable to always leave the painting work at least 24 hours to dry before using it.

This is the end-result of the bookcase

The truth is that it is not a very flashy job, but small things like this are simple and can make you reuse old things that you already have, without spend a lot of money and with a big satisfaction.