Of Books and Shelves...

It's summer, and that means that for a few beautiful months, I can focus on my home and my family almost exclusively, instead of the juggling act that so often occurs during the school year. As part of that process, I'm getting rid of "stuff" that we don't use and revamping several areas of the house. During a recent journey into the disaster zone, a.k.a my 12 year old's room, I discovered that she was in need of a new bookshelf. Of course, I turned to Craigslist, found a deal, and made arrangements to go pick it up.

And then, a crisis. They sold my shelf to a buyer who had an available pick up truck - it wouldn't fit in my Honda!

So, I took a look around my house and discovered that I had an old, tired shelf with a bad coat of white paint. I could fix that up for Noelle, right? Right.

I ran (not really) to google and researched various furniture painting techniques. I loved the "chalk paint" idea, until I saw the price. $35 for a quart of paint? No. Period. Way. So, I researched alternatives and decided to wing it.

A combination of Valspar paint and primer along with some Lowe's sample paint jars (I LOVE THESE and have just found the newest source for my canvas paint, despite the fast dry time) and some SC Johnson's paste wax are working magic on that book shelf. So far, it's gone from this:




(Noelle is expressing her dismay that I might put THIS in her room)

To this:





More photos coming once that waxing is finished.

I've also found that this massive, useless room on the other end of my house with its own A/C unit makes a pretty amazing workshop, and that I might really like doing this kind of thing...

So, in this golden summer, I'm learning new things about furniture, and about me. Fall will bring a new job, new responsibilities, and perhaps another new chapter of my life that I'm not quite ready to wrap my mind around yet. For now, I'm just enjoying the journey, and the paint! :) 'Til the wax is cured!

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