Rustic Bookcase Makeover, with reclaimed wood

I planned to post this yesterday, but a sick baby girl had other ideas. Short of vapor-rub and cuddles there's little you can do for a baby with a cold, so it's been a long couple of days (and nights)! Here is the promised bookcase makeover!

Every house with kids needs storage, this is not news. But a very small house with two little people in it means you need to fit the storage to the space.

There is an awkward spot under our living room window (the only one for about 900 of our 1300 square feet, hence the grainy pictures), where we needed something. I had been using this crate bookcase there, knowing it was temporary. When I moved it over to my desk, it was a good excuse to find something more size appropriate to put in its place.

My mom-and-dad-in-law recently moved into a new home and inherited an entire loft lined with bookcases. They gave me a few of them with a permission slip to do whatever I wanted with them. There is a larger set of shelves that I plan on cutting to size to use in my new trailer-shop (see those plans HERE!), but this narrower set was the perfect size for the living room.

This is how it started.

I cut it down to four shelves so it would fit beneath the living room window. The rest of it is bound for books in the nursery (see my nursery projects HERE). The man who built in my in-laws home was a pretty handy carpenter, and the home is full of custom woodwork. You should see their shed! Lots of scrap fun to be had in there.

I primed the bookcase and painted it white. It needed backing, but rather than using boring plywood I decided to use some reclaimed wood from the pile. These boards were dirty so they needed a good scrub down and a shot of diluted bleach for good measure. It's probably overkill, but I often do that when the wood has been really used and abused, especially if it's meant to be used inside.

When they were dry, I sanded the planks down well and gave them a couple coats of my favorite sealant.

I use Rust-Oleum Matte Clear Coat* on just about everything. It enhances the natural color of weathered wood without any shine whatsoever. I like that it seals the wood as well, in my mind that makes it a little bit safer for using indoors.

A dry fit for the puzzle planks, then I nailed them down with my Ryobi Airstrike*, another thing I use all the time.

Photo bomb... spot the puppy

This isn't one of those projects where the heavens open up and angels sing, but I'm pretty excited to have something in this space that really looks "on purpose".

The bookcases is made from 1"x6" boards so it has a small footprint, but it's got a lot of potential for kid-keeping.

Of course it looks nothing like this now. The pretty books have been promoted to higher shelves, and have been replaced with Toy Story, Curious George, Brown Bear Brown Bear, etc, and anything remotely breakable or interesting has been relocated. #RealLife

Isn't this little mason jar tissue holder sweet? I might have to do a mini-tutorial on that. I was tired of stepped-on tissue boxes floating around the house! Leave a comment if you're interested in seeing that!

I found a handful of neat accessories for half price at Hobby Lobby when I visited my parents recently. The angel wing dish and the little turquoise box were among them.

I usually try to stay away from knick-nacks, but I'm a sucker for angel wings and the turquoise box is cute storage. My little man decided it was a "treasure chest", so an intervention unfortunately took place almost immediately. Now it holds post-its and paper clips on my desk.

Cooler weather is just a few weeks away, so a cozy blanket is definitely in order.

Isn't that wood gorgeous? I'm pretty happy to have such a great little piece to finally fill that spot.

Fun fact: Those are my very first hydrangeas - never bought 'em before. They must be rare in AZ because when I do see them they are expensive and I always go with the $4 daisies instead! These were priced more reasonably than usual, and after a week of taking care of sick little people I thought we deserved a treat.

I hope you have a lovely weekend! Check out some yard sales for me, I'm going through withdrawals...

*This post contains affiliate links for products that I use on a daily basis. All opinions expressed are my own - I wouldn't recommend them if I didn't love them myself! 

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