I always seem to have a thousand and one projects waiting for me. Either they are in the middle of production (not too many in that category over the past several years), waiting to go into production or just on the idea list.There are just too many things I want to do or make! Well this year has been no exception. Back in January I decided I was going to try to get back to my creative side. It took me a while to get to it but around springtime an idea began to form. A friend of mine was moving and offered me three Ikea bookshelves and some old chairs. Upon first inspection I thought,"Nah, these aren't really what I want. I'm looking for something nicer." Then I thought, "Hmmm, maybe I could make them nicer." So with the help of her son, I loaded them up in my van and after a couple of trips, I got them home and unloaded into the garage. Well, there they sat for several months while I tried to decide what to do with them and find the time to do it. My husband was not thrilled with my idea. He knows it sometimes takes me years to get around to projects (I have a little table I want to redo that has been sitting in the garage for almost three years as well as an old sewing machine table that I want to put a new top on) and meanwhile they were taking up space in his tool area. Around the beginning of November my husband approached me about the bookshelves and chairs. "Can I get rid of them?", he asked. "I know you have good intentions but when are you really going to get around to it and I'm not sure our books are nice enough to be displayed somewhere." So we struck a deal. We went through the books and cleared some out and I promised that if I did not get the bookshelves and chairs done by Christmas that he could get rid of them. I must say, as much as I wanted to do this project, I was a little afraid of it. One big problem was that all three bookshelves were laminate. Several people told me that you can't paint laminate. But once I've set my mind to something, I don't accept blocks like this. I was determined to make this work. Pshaw laminate. It was a surface, it must be paintable. So I turned to the internet to find the solution (cause there just had to be one!) and low and behold, I found direction on how to paint laminate. So with that information I started my project. I began with some light sanding just to rough up the surface and then an oil base primer.

(please excuse the picture formatting....I'm still trying to get use to this blogging stuff)

My goal was to actually finish the bookshelves by Thanksgiving so I had to move fast. And by Thanksgiving I did get the bookshelves painted but still needed to paint the backs. So the Monday after Thanksgiving I painted and stenciled the back of the bookcases and by Monday night had them put together and in my basement. There are few things I would have done differently if I'd had more time (like put a sealant finish on) but overall, I'm pretty pleased with the outcome.