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If you read my previous post, you know that I do love a wall of built-in bookshelves. They tend to ground the room and give visual oomph to what could otherwise be a bland space. Especially so when they feature beautiful displays of books and frames and curated elements.
But before Grandma’s antique ginger jar and crystal can be displayed, the finish of the shelves themselves needs addressed.
Stained wood or paint? Dark and dramatic or light and sophisticated?
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I tend to like bold and unique colors for bookshelves. My current fav is rich, saturated blue. The darker the better and dolled up with gold hardware… mmmm! Dreamy.
When we moved into our newest home our family room was adorned with a glorious amount of built-in shelves. The only trouble for me was the color was not my taste. Dubbed, Avolime, this interesting green didn’t blend well with what I planned to display.
Avolime, the color the previous owners, and my sister, loved
I vacillated with which color to paint. I was choosing between my beloved dark navy blue and the classic, elegant white that was my first love in the world of painted bookcases.
Our family room is full of windows and natural light isn’t an issue in the space so I was very much in favor of the dark blue. Plus I could imagine the glow of the fire late into the night would illuminate all shades of this superb color.
As I thought about it, I like a clean classic look. Even more than I like big drama effects. And if I had white shelving, I could dress it up any way I wanted and then re-dress it as often as I wanted without having to compete with the overall color.
Image via cottage and vine
White won my heart yet again! Although, I do have plans for creating a way to change the look of the cabinetry backing. Drama and high contrast can come into play and then all will be right in the design world. And anytime I’m ready for an all-white look again, I can remove my temporary backing. More to come on this in the future!
When deciding on something like stain or paint color of an entire wall of space- it’s important to take a few things into consideration.
Eleven Gables, designed by the owner
How long do you plan to keep it this color?
What expense is included in changing it in the future? Changing a stain color can be very labor intensive and costly if hiring it out.
Is your selection trendy or classic?
Are you planning to sell anytime in the next decade? Most buyers want a neutral look for cabinetry and you wouldn’t want to sabotage a good sale price.
Are you willing to put in the time or money to change the look of your built-ins?
Understanding these points can help narrow your search for the perfect finish of your bookshelves.
Now, when it came to changing our paint color we thought we would hire professionals. When we purchased our home, I was very pregnant + had 2 other little people to tend to all day, every day. Daniel worked long hours and we weren’t in a season to dump all our extra weekends into painting. We thought it would be a better use of our time to focus elsewhere in the house and let a team of pro’s do the job in the family room.
After meeting with a handful of painters, we realized we had a bigger problem than just re-painting. Long story short- the Avolime had been applied directly to the wood without a lot of prep and it was coming off. As each quote rolled in, our jaws dropped a little further until we realized we could not afford the number of zero’s some of these fabulous pro’s were asking. We didn’t want to use our entire “house project fund” on just the built-ins alone. We needed to figure out a way to make the changes but in a cost effective manner.
Removed doors, shelves, and the wine rack
The owner of an esteemed company in our area was one that came to our home for a close-up inspection before he offered his quote. Quickly realizing the Avolime was resting right on top of the stained wood- he tallied up all the steps that would go into a properly finished product. His quote lined up with the others. He informed me that I could actually save money by demo-ing the current bookshelves and custom designing new ones. I was in shock.
I could tell this particular man was feeling quite sorry for our situation. So I did what I do best- I figured out a way to get the look I wanted but on a more practical budget.
This was a common site throughout the bookshelves
First step- I interviewed this owner of the painting company and got a few of his tips and tricks! Including the exact product he imports for some of his complex jobs (like ours would have been).
Next step- I took to the internet to continue my investigation. I poured into every reputable blog, tutorial, and online video for the proper steps to refinishing built-ins bookshelves or cabinets. I even purchased an online resource to get a few professional techniques that I wasn’t otherwise finding.
If we were going to paint these cabinets ourselves- I wanted them to turn out well. The painters that bid for the job did warn me that covering the Avolime was just a bandaid. What really needed to happen was stripping of the old paint, sanding, and starting afresh. *However, due to the damage throughout, we would likely uncover issues that are not fixable and possibly make the shelving system unusable.
But if we were going to choose to paint over the green- there were techniques to making it the best it could be. After gathering loads of advice from sources near and far- I felt ready to embark on our first house project in our new home.
As it turns out, not everything goes perfectly well in these type of projects. Hehe! And as we began the process of changing out the Avolime, we found that small things can derail a project for hours and days on end.
But alas, with persistence and quite a bit of patience, we applied our new found knowledge and completed the painting portion of the job!
The fun parts, come after the painting is completed. In my opinion- hardware is the jewelry of all cabinetry. And then… the very best part of any space. The decorating!! {Insert choirs of angels and beaming rays from Heaven}
