Eclectic Red Barn: Discarded bookcase becomes much needed storage

Sunday, July 26, 2015

Discarded bookcase becomes much needed storage

I have been away from my blog the last couple of weeks, but it has all been good. I spent a week visiting my grand kids that was so special. When they live far away, you certainly appreciate the time when you are together.

I arrived home from my visit to the grand kids and my daughter had actually arrived the day before. She has moved here from California and I am so excited. She will be living in our other house where her new job is. We headed for the other house with the few remaining personal items that she didn't sell. Having to sell all her household stuff was hard for her but she seems to be adjusting.

This bookcase was something that she and I picked up that someone discarded along the road.

Although not really nice wood, she needed a bookcase for all of her books. She is a special educator and teacher.

Side view of the bookcase. You can even see the dirt.

I sanded the wood on the bookcase since it was lament. I figured the paint would adhere to it better if I did. Next I put a coat of primer on it.

She liked the color of the wall paint - Cottage Cream from Sherwin Williams - so I painted it that color. It blends into the walls.

I had to secure the back which was just a cheap board, but after tacking it in, it wasn't too bad. By the time we added the shelves, it was quite sturdy.

We don't have a separate room that she could use for her office, so we made an area in the living room for her.

She purchased the desk at IKEA. The top was sold separately from the sawhorses. As we went to check out, we found the same black sawhorses in the clearance area. How lucky was that?

My husband cut two boards to fit on the bottom of the sawhorses since it only had a thin board. Now she could put a waste basket (we spray painted a wicker basket black) and other things there.

We did not get her work space completely done, but it is a start and we can finish it on our next trip in August. She went off to Alaska for 10 days. I will talk about that another time.

She had so many more books than what is on the book shelves, but had to sell many of them. She kept the best. For now, this free bookcase will work and it doesn't look too bad since it was painted.

The space will work for now and she only spent $60 dollars. I had the chairs, tables, boards, lamp, and the free bookcase. Not too bad for a work area.