Office bookcase {before and after}

Hello, hello! Hope you all had a good weekend. It was super-nice out here in Maine...sunny, clear blue sky and in the low 70s. I know that's not everyone's idea of perfect weather, but for this New Englander, it definitely was.

This weekend I also wrapped up a couple projects, including this one I'm about to show you. It's a big check off the office redo list, and I'm super thrilled with how it came out!

Last year I managed to score a solid oak bookcase...for free! The restaurant downstairs from my office had new owners who were renovating, and they tossed this puppy in the Dumpster. Lucky for me, they were nice enough to pull it out again when I professed my interest :)

I'm going to cut to the chase and get right to the after. Ta da!

Here's what we started with.

The bookcase had been given a pretty sloppy stain job, and we weren't feeling the color anyways, so we started by sanding it down. We also had to remove the back because the restaurant had cut a hole in it for some reason. A new piece of plywood cut down to size at The Home Depot didn't cost much at all.

Prying off the old back...

...and pulling out the old staples

We decided to paint it with an oil-based gloss black paint for a super-smooth, super-shiny finish that would also let the wood grain show through. We used this paint from Rustoleum and did two coats.

I really wanted to do something to make it unique, so instead of painting the new back, I decided to cover it with this damask fabric from Joann. It was super easy to do because the back was already off the shelf, so I just used some spray adhesive to stick it on. The only tough part? I didn't have a piece of fabric big enough to cover the whole back, so I had to line up the two pieces just right.

Can you spot the seam?

Here's a better look

The hubs attached the back with little finish brads.

So, it only took like a whole year to get this thing finished and in its new home. Part of that was because the office was a total disaster for a while...it kind of became the dumping ground for Christmas decor, projects in progress, etc. Then it was home to our living room furniture for a couple weeks while we shampooed the carpet in there to prepare for our new sectional. Anyways, I'm just glad the office is cleaned out and there's room now for this lovely bookcase!

I'll tell you more about what's on the bookcase in a later post. But here's a little look...

The office redo is chugging along, but there are still a few things to finish up. Here's a list:

--Hang up the art
--Hang up the curtains
--Buy a new light fixture
--Build some shelves over the desk
--Finish a secret project I'll tell you about soon :)

I'm hoping to get it all done in the next month or so. We'll see!

Linking up!

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