Monday, March 5, 2012

Built-In Bookcase - Finished

I know you've been waiting for the final reveal.  I've been waiting, too.  It doesn't matter how many times CG and I DIY something, I always think we can just bang things out in an afternoon that will actually take a full 3 day weekend.  If I plan for a weekend, you better believe it'll take 3 weeks.  I am in awe of DIY bloggers like John and Sherry at Young House Love or Justin and Cassity at Remodelaholic who seem to be able to crush projects in their sleep.  Here's where we left off last week.
living room side

foyer side
We needed to fill all the cracks and nail holes with some wood putty.

After sanding, and spot priming, we were ready for paint.

I brushed some Minwax wood conditioner onto the top,

and stained it using an old rag.  I used one coat of mahogany, followed by one coat of black walnut.

It still needs a coat of poly, but I'm waiting for a nice enough day to do that outside.

The shelves sit on some chamfered cleats along the sides and back.  I checked the shelf length against the weight of the books with the online sagulator tool, and no additional bracketing was needed.  Here she is all decked out with my home decor and gardening books and the book vases I made here.  The top shelf holds a phone, notepad and pen, and the local coupon book for those days when you've spent the entire day painting, staining, moving furniture, and running kids around and would rather check for restaurant coupons than mess around in the kitchen.

I love the detail of the v-groove back paneling.

And here's the foyer side.  Love that we decided to add the horizontal battens.

You may have noticed that there was some furniture moving this weekend, too.  I felt like the loveseat was crowding the new bookshelves.  The wingback chair that I covered here sits in this corner of the room now.

Thanks for popping in and DIYing with me and CG.  Check out parts 1 &2 of this project here and here.


RemodelaholicFunky Junk's Sat Nite Special

15 comments:

  1. I ♥ how it turned out! Looks great! :)

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  2. That is the perfect room divider, and it looks as if a professional did it.

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  3. Wow, you two are great! I could never produce something like that. It's sooo professional and looks like you really need it. The carved book vases look good in there too. Love it when something solves ye olde 'wish I had...' issue. Thanks, as always, for stopping by.

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  4. Ahhhhh it looks gorgeous! Love the board and batten side facing your entry, and all that shelving on the other side! I want this in my house badly. You must be so excited at how it came out - great job!!!

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  5. What a lovely bookcase - I need one of those. It will be fun to decorate and change around!

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  6. I've always loved a half wall bookcase as a way to divide a foyer from the adjacent room. You did a great job and I think that baten trim on the foyer side is way spiffy and classy.

    Robin
    happilyhomeafter.blogspot.com

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  7. Fantastic. I bet this place is a people attractor. Folks will feel comfortable around it. Bravo.

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  8. Came here from another blog...It looks great! I have something extremely similar separating my entry/living room and had debated on doing something with them. Now I know what! You rock!

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  9. Nice! You will enjoy it! Looks wonderful! Come and follow me on my new blog,lost my old one Joann

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  10. A++++++++++++ I LOVE this. The wood top, the boards on the back. The horizontal battens really make the style. It's perfect.

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  11. I love this and have a friend with an entry just like this that this would be great for her. Thanks for sharing.

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  12. I think I need to add on of these to my "Honey-do" list...great job.

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  13. What a great job!
    Thanks for sharing.
    Hope to see you on my blog:)

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  14. This is one awesome project!! Great-great job.

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  15. This looks like it will be worth the wait. Great job, very classic.

    Robin
    Robin Flies South

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