A Little Paint Changes Everything – The Story of my Upcycled, Hand me Down Painted Bookcase

Do you remember the time of door to door salesmen?  The kind who peddled vacuums and sets of encyclopedias?  Years and years ago my dad was approached by one such salesman.  He was selling Louis L’Amour leather covered hard bound books that the buyer would be able to purchase monthly, kind of like a book of the month club.  My dad loves Louis L’Amour, so he jumped at the chance to own the entire collection.  Fast forward 35 years and he has now passed the collection down to me.  And with the books came an old and outdated bookcase to store them in.  I loved the books, but hated the look of the dated oak bookcase.  It was just begging for a paint job.  So that is exactly what I did, and it is just amazing how a little paint changes everything!  This is the story of my up cycled, hand me down painted bookcase.

I was so super beyond excited to have a chance to talk to HomeRight while I was at Haven in July and see all of the amazing products that they offer.  My attention was immediately snagged by a phenomenal looking paint sprayer.  You see, this girl paints a lot of furniture, but I have always been a bit intimidated to try out paint sprayers.  They look complicated, hard to use or downright ridiculous to clean.  I had put it off for far too long, so I decided to give the HomeRight Finish Max Pro a try, and I am so so glad that I did!  Not only did it take me much less time to paint the bookcase than if I had stuck to a roller and brush, but there was no awkward bending trying to reach the tiny crevices on the inside, no streaks or runs from uneven paint application, and possibly best of all, there was less than 10 minutes of clean up!  I am totally in love with this sprayer and cannot wait to refinish yet another piece of furniture with it!

Yep, I am totally that girl who is out in her driveway in painting clothes and dirty hair.  My neighbors adore me.  (And in case you are wondering about my shorts and t-shirt attire in the middle of winter, let me set the record straight by admitting that I painted the bookcase way back in September and am just now getting around to posting it.  I am nothing if not a procrastinator.)

Love that you can rotate the nozzle to spray vertically or horizontally!

In order to get the bottom of the shelf painted without it pooling, I set it on top of a couple of concrete blocks.  Worked like a charm!

I am not going to lie, I really debated on removing the backing and adding some reclaimed wood pieces instead, but I knew that almost as soon as I got it finished I would be ready for a change and would be a bit more tied down.  I am a fickle decorator.

The large majority of the items on this bookcase hold significant sentimental value to me.  For instance, the large photo on top is from my absolute favorite place in the world, Glacier National Park.  It is “home” for us and I love to see it every day.  The row of Hardy Boys books were given to my daughter from my grandfather after my grandmother passed away.  She had more than likely picked them up at a garage sale when my dad was young (she loved a good garage sale!), dating back to the 1920s.  The folded flag is one that my husband took on one of his deployments and had flown on combat missions with him.  It makes me super happy to surround myself with things that I treasure.

Although this up cycle is nothing revolutionary, I am very much in love with the results and now feel that what was originally my parent’s hand me down is now a piece of furniture that works and makes sense in my home.  It is now “me” and I couldn’t ask for more.

My son will inherit the books (and the gun, which was my grandfather’s service pistol from his years as a police officer) one day, but until then, I will proudly display this collection in my home and think of my dad each time that I pass by it.

Do you have any family “hand me downs” or collectibles?  Have you up cycled or refinished them or did you leave them just as they were?