How to Refinish a Bookshelf

Learn how to refinish whatever piece of wood furniture, like this bookshelf, with simple latex paint. Give new life to old wood in any color paint.

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My uncle is a carpenter. (You can see ane of his pieces that I hung with a french cleat). Several years agone he taught me how to work with wood by helping me build a custom bookcase. Because of him, the bookcase was very well-made and it's been a treasured piece of piece of furniture ever since.

When nosotros moved into our home, I constitute just the place for information technology. The bookshelf fits perfectly on a small wall in our front room that leads to the hallway. Information technology'due south narrow enough to be perfect for that walkway. But it never looked good there. It was big and dark, but not the focal indicate of the room. Even though there was plenty of space to walk past it, the bookshelf visually blocked the doorway.

It also added one more type of forest to the room. We have honey oak floors and several pieces of mahogany piece of furniture (like our mid-century cabinet and giant clock), so this bookcase in English Walnut looked out of identify and messy. I tried restyling it several times, merely information technology merely looked similar a decorating black pigsty.

As much every bit I dearest the look of wood grain, this bookshelf needed to be refinished. Here's the step to refinish forest piece of furniture with latex paint:

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Prep the Furniture

The nearly important part of whatever refinishing chore is to prepare the surface to be painted, otherwise the paint will peel off. I took our bookshelf outside to prep it.

You tin come across my cute husband watering our succulent garden in the background :).

Clean It

First, I washed the bookshelf by wiping information technology downwardly with soapy water, then rinsing it with a clammy rag. This is to remove whatsoever clay or grime that has built upwardly on the piece of furniture over years of utilise.

Fill Any Holes

Next, I used wood filler to fill all the holes and scratches in the wood. This bookshelf has moved to different homes with u.s. several times, and so information technology had a little wear. The wood filler hides all that.

Vacuum Out Dust and Dirt

After sanding the woods filler smoothen, there's going to be dust. I vacuumed the entire bookshelf just to be sure at that place wouldn't be whatsoever clay or nasty stuff in the paint stop.

Gear up to Pigment

Prepare a Space for Painting

I used a HomeRight Finish Max Sprayer to apply latex paint to furniture. Spraying gives the best finish. But even if your brushing or rolling on the paint, you need a space that can get a little messy. And where the article of furniture can sit down while the paint dries.

I employ our deck. It'southward outside, and then a picayune mess won't affair much. And the deck will need a new coat of pigment every few years anyway.

I put the bookshelf up on my saw horses then it would be easier to piece of work with and less likely to get muddied. I painted the starting time couple coats of pigment with it up similar this. The final few coats, I put the bookshelf upright on a drop cloth. The reason for changing things up is that paint loves a flat, horizontal surface. Irresolute the bookshelf means that vertical surfaces become horizontal and vice versa. That manner I could focus on getting a solid, fifty-fifty coat of paint on whichever surface happened to exist horizontal without worrying virtually drips.

Prepare the Pigment

Latex pigment is soft even after it's dry. It can be scratched, chipped, and get indents. I added Difficult Coat to my latex paint to make the bookshelf more durable. (I practise take a iii year-erstwhile.) Hard Glaze makes the latex finish more like a traditional enamel finish. Information technology'south too great for painting kitchen cabinets.

I added the instructed ratio of Hard Coat to paint and then thinned it a fiddling more than to be the right thickness for the paint sprayer.

Paint the Furniture

Now the fun function, painting the furniture. I love watching an old piece of article of furniture transform into something new and beautiful.

Spray the Piece of furniture with Paint

Using a paint sprayer has made refinishing and so much easier, and it makes the last end then smooth flawless. I love my HomeRight sprayer.

The trick with a paint sprayer is to applying several thin coats, but like with spray pigment. That's why the bookshelf needed to be somewhere it could sit and dry. It took me about a calendar week of painting a coat, then letting it dry out, and repeating.

Let It Dry or Cure

Technically, latex paint and other finishes don't dry. That would mean that water is evaporating. They cure, which means that the air causes the pigment to change, or harden. I've found that if I don't wait long plenty betwixt coats, the terminal finish never cures completely. It stays a petty sticky. Be patient. It'south worth information technology.

My finished latex paint feels more similar a hard enamel finish thanks to the Difficult Coat condiment.

An Unexpected Result

I've never had this happen before, just the wood grain showed through the paint. Not the color of the woods, simply the grooves from the grain. I guess this must take been my first time painted something oak that didn't have a thick finish that filled the grain. I could have used a wood grain filler before painting to prevent this, merely I kinda like the texture it gives the bookshelf when you look closely.

A Refinished Bookshelf

My "new" bookshelf looks swell in our living room. It add decoration to the wall without drawing a lot of attention or taking up a lot of visual room.

A design tip: If y'all desire a piece of furniture to exist less noticeable, pigment it a similar colour to the wall.

I was a petty worried about having white on white, simply I dear how the bookshelf looks next to the wall. Now I'yard working on decorating information technology.

I have a few pieces that are sentimental, like this sculpture of a mother and baby that used to exist my mom'due south.

I'chiliad besides working on making a few DIY decor items to display on my bookshelf and around the room, like this glass vase with silk roses.

Refinishing wood piece of furniture is a fun and simple DIY project that brings new life to old, worn, outdated, or ugly furniture.

You lot tin read more than about the how we refinished the large clock or how I quickly and hands dust that silk institute.

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Source: https://simplepracticalbeautiful.com/refinishing-a-wood-bookcase/

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