I think it’s safe to say that we have all gone through phases. At one point, mine was black – Every piece of furniture I owned was painted black. I think I felt that it read really modern, but instead I’m fairly certain that it looked like the particle-board furniture section at Wal-Mart.
I’ve seen some really beautiful black pieces that definitely tempt me to revisit my black phase. But I think I’m now coming to see that a black finish alone doesn’t cut it – It’s a combination of color and shape that really make it work. For example…
Despite the evidence of black beauties, I’ve since done a complete 180, moving on to a white phase. Who knows what I’ll say in another five years, but for now I love the clean look of pure white.
I’m still working on burying my black furniture phase though – One example being the barrister bookcase in our bedroom.
My dad actually built it for me in the height of my “dark” phase – As soon as I got my hands on the piece, I remember slapping a few layers of matte black paint on to cover the raw wood. Today, I’m kicking myself for that. Not only because I covered natural wood (an absolute “no-no” in my philosophy today), but also because I did a really crappy job with the painting.
(Don’t judge on my largely pre-teen influenced book collection…)
You may remember when I reworked the twin to our master bedroom bookcase – It had the same terrible black finish, so I painted it a fresh white and added a splash of subtle green in the back panel.
Somehow it took me over a year to move on to the second bookcase – In the end, the looming photo shoot last month was the final kick in the pants that I needed to bring it into the white phase.
You can see in the photos below how the black paint was badly chipped in places. Not good.
Luckily, we had plenty of white paint in our inventory so this project cost me nothing to execute. I love free upcycling.
One thing that I skipped that I wish I hadn’t on the first bookcase was the primer – A year later, sap stains from the pine wood have started to seep through the white paint, leaving ugly orange blotches. So this time, I made sure to start with a strong foundation of primer.
Here’s the bookcase after one coat of the primer. I ended up doing two coats of primer and two coats of the white topcoat. Of course, this is stating the obvious, but it sure does take a lot to cover black with white.
After rolling on four thin and even coats, one each evening before taking a walk with the hubs and the pup, I carried my sleek new white bookcase up the stairs and set her back up beneath Mr. Pug Man (or Mrs. Pug Lady, if you prefer).
Here’s a quick little “Before and After” for you too…
NOW it seems more modern. It feels like something my 26-year-old self would have bought today in a heartbeat. You know you’ve succeeded in redoing a piece of furniture if you wouldn’t have touched it before, but after a little work, would immediately snatch it up now. I’m just thankful to have another beautiful piece of furniture from my dad that I know will fit in our home and decor for years to come.
Have a great weekend!
P.S. Don’t forget to enter yourself into the Duo Flush System giveaway!! Get the details here.
