It’s been awhile since I’ve done any refinishing here on the blog, but we had a neighbourhood “large item garbage day” last week and the temptation to makeover a curb find was just too much to resist!
This is the wood bookshelf that someone had set out. I’m guessing it was being used in the garage for storage of oils and stains just based on some of the spills on the shelves.
The wood is rough lumber, and there are a couple of bent dowels, but tell me this doesn’t have potential?!
Especially when the daycare you work at has a long, dark hallway that could use some cheering up.
Sand and clean
After about 90 minutes of sanding and cleaning, the sliver party was under control and safe for toddler hands.
I love this bookshelf! It’s a simple build, using framing lumber, but it’s perfect for so many things; garage storage, plate rack, behind the door storage…
Prime
Time to get the primer on. I did two coats with sanding in between to get a nice, white base.
Paint
Add two coats of semi-gloss white to the entire bookcase for kids so that I could tape off, and have the areas I wanted white, finished underneath.
Time for the fun and colourful part!
What do you think of these colours?
It’s all about the details
I taped off the kids bookcase into sections; I wanted the outside and shelf fronts to stay white, but then bring in pops of colour on the inside.
They key to crisp paint lines is to paint over the tape itself in the original colour – in this case white – let it dry for a bit, and then apply the section colours. This ensures that any paint bleed will be in white.
This is so fun!
Two coats in semi-gloss (from $6 tester pots) and voila! A bright, cheerful and colourful bookcase for kids!
I could leave it like this because it’s already a statement piece at the end of the daycare hallway…
but my original plan (still to be executed completely) is to print off staff photos and set them up in white frames on the shelves.
For now it’s staged with a couple of plants, some books, and framed quotes.
Maybe this colourful bookcase for kids could even be re-staged weekly with a daycare theme of the week or month?
I’m envisioning “Dinosaur week” where all the shelves are filled with dinosaur toys, or baking week with chefs hats and baking gear? Maybe photos of the kids accomplishments, like “Nedbert learned to tie his shoe” or “Penelope used the potty”. Parent’s can see and celebrate all of these milestones!
Yes, working at a daycare is awesome… and brings back memories of fun times with my girls when they were small.
Pin it for later:
So, on the off-chance that the neighbour that threw this out comes across my little blog, I’d like to send a heartfelt thanks. Your build is getting a second life now and will bring smiles to many little faces.
Have a great one!