Happy Tuesday friends! I am so excited to share our latest home update on the blog with you all this week. My husband and I purchased this stained, solid pine, double bookshelf unit for only $200 on Marketplace! The lovely couple who it originally belonged to even delivered it to us, so it was an absolute bargain all round. Considering bookshelves can be thousands of dollars, and very rarely come completed in solid wood, this was an item we just couldn't pass up!
Our study/office space had been lacking in storage ever since we moved into our home, so I knew straight away when I spotted these shelves that it was just what the room had been missing.
Prepping The Bookshelves
My sweet husband organised all the measuring and cutting of our inlet holes, to ensure that they would line up perfectly with our pre-existing power points. He used a hole saw and jigsaw to execute the cuts in a tidy fashion. This meant that all our cables and modems could be hidden away within the unit, and not take away from the overall visual design of the bookshelves.
From here we bogged up any dents or patches in the wood that needed repairing, and finally gave the entire unit- inside and out- a complete sanding all over to remove the sheen of the stain. Doing this meant that the primer and paint could adhere best to the wood itself and ensure it's longevity therein. I went with a water based primer from Dulux that was best suited for timbers and woods.
*Handy tip: be sure to remove any doors or hardware first before sanding, so that you can protect them, and in turn get good coverage over each surface of the piece.
Painting The Shelves
In order for the bookshelves to feel cohesive- like they've always been apart of our home- I decided to paint them in the same colour as our trim, which also features in the doors, mantlepiece and other parts of our home. It took one coat of primer, and two coats of Dulux's Natural White, in a semi gloss oil-based finish, to complete the process. I also like how the continuation of this particular oil based paint throughout our home, means that those surfaces painted in it, will be highly durable throughout the years to come.
We are so pleased with the end result, and in total- including the expense of paint supplies- it cost us only $250! On top of this, the whole DIY process took 5 days to be completed, from start to the final, finished installation. Now we can enjoy the unit as a neutral anchor and backdrop in our study, which also doubles up as a practical storage space for all our belongings. The tongue and groove backing of the shelves also oozes the coastal cottage style that we adore! All that's left to do now is have fun styling it in the weeks to come!
I hope this gives you a leap of confidence to up-cycle your own vintage or second-hand piece of furniture. It is an affordable, rewarding task that provides a much needed update to any space, and leaves it feeling truly homemade.
