Thursday, September 23, 2010

More bookcase progress

We spent a lot of time sanding the plywood and caulking all the seams on our bookcase framing.  Observe:
We also used wood filler on the holes in the plywood and 'counter top' because it is sandable and caulk is NOT.  Have you ever used caulk and later tried to remove the extra crap you left behind?  FAIL.  Use wood filler, or even simple wall spackle works!  We also primed.  
And here is proof that I am the muscle behind all these projects.  I was at it for at least an hour longer than Shaun, who was lounging in the living room before he meandered in here to snap my photo.  Pshhhhht!
Booty booty booty!  I may have been dancing to 80s music during this shot.  Anyway, we got the entire thing primed with two coats of BIN and it looks NICE! 
Why do I insist on using BIN?  Because this stuff sands like nothing else.  Yes indeedy.  When it's time to paint, you sand everything with 320 sandpaper.  It gets so smooth, it's like Nicole Kidman's forehead.  I'm not kidding!  We used it on the shelves as well.  The lawn guy came to spray while I was out here and promptly left, muttering he would come back later.  Ha!
Like Jenny, I decided to use Ace Cabinet and Trim paint on everything.  I used semi-gloss white, and I am very happy with the way the shelves turned out.
Most of the brush strokes level out while drying, and I think the glossy factory-like finish will be fabulous on the bookcases.  It's a little stinky and runny, but man the result is nice!  We will be cutting and attaching the shelf cleats this weekend, and hopefully will get a coat of paint on everything as well.  Has anyone else used this paint?

30 comments:

  1. I used the Ace paint on my kitchen cabinets almost a year ago and it has held up beautifully. I love it!

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  2. I'm drooling over here looking at your cabinets. Seriously drooling like my 3 month old. ;)

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  3. Sara, there are no words for your awesomeness. I am in jaw dropping awe of you right now. Come to my house next please!

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  4. WOW! It looks so grand! I would never believe that you guys JUST built this! It looks like it belongs in the room. Great job!

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  5. Still jealous! Good luck with the rest of it this weekend.

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  6. OOOOOOOOO! These are looking so good!

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  7. It's looking so good! We plan on building a couple of small built-ins for our office and will try both the BIN and cabinet paint.

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  8. Wow.. looking great! Can't wait to see the finished product!

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  9. OMG that looks incredible! I love built-ins and those are no exception!

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  10. This looks SO awesome! I can't wait to see the final result. Also, love the paint clothes! They look just like mine! :)

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  11. K so the cabinets are looking fabulous and everything... but your painting outfit definitely takes the cake in this post. Giggle giggle giggle!

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  12. WOW! That is looking FAB! Ohmygosh, I can't wait to see it once it's finished!

    ~Chelsea

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  13. omg x 3. It already looks uh-maz-ing!

    I'm officially jealous.

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  14. Like Lindsey, I'm drooling too, but it's more like a 92 year old's drool, honestly...whatever, I can't wait for the reveal!

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  15. It looks so good!! I really love this project so much!! Are you planning on painting the back of the shelves a color?

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  16. saying that it looks NICE (despite the all-caps), is an understatement my dear.

    AWESOME!

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  17. SO excited to see final product!!

    SO jealous of storage!!

    SO embarrassed to be using so many exclamation points!!

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  18. Wow all the hard work is paying like mad! It looks awesome. You both have skills! Now if I only lived closer for a home tour....

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  19. I'm about to go out and paint our wood with the BIN primer you recommend! Excited to see how it turns out.

    Shelves looking GREAT.. Can't wait to see it all done!

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  20. Do you even UNDERSTAND how much I love this? It's haunting my dreams. It's going to look amazing. And, thanks for the tip about BIN. I think I'll try that. I usually go with oil based primer and Olympic paint, but I may change my tune.

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  21. So, now that you had all this practice with yours, you'll be able to install ours in no time, right?!?! :)

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  22. Nicole Kidman's forehead... HA! Seeing them white makes such a difference already! If I'm this excited just reading about it, I can't imagine how excited you must be!

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  23. Wow...I have major built-in envy right now. I seriously just said to the husband "why did we not do built-ins in the family room?" And I am right there with you with the painting outfit....we could be twins!

    So glad you like the paint. It is a little tricky but the finish has never let me down.

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  24. Lookin' good!

    I'll give that Ace paint a try for our cabinet shelves too.

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  25. These are looking fantastic!! I'm so glad I'm not the only one with projects that seem like they go on forever :)
    I love how well you're documenting all the steps for us - I'm hanging on every word, because this is something I'm planning to do in my living room (adding in the complication of a window in the middle...and a pipe in the corner...)
    Anyway, will you be filling us in on how you addressed the air vent/electrical issues you mentioned earlier? I've got some of those in the way, too, so I'd love to know!

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  26. That is incredible and leaves me with no doubt that I will never, ever do something so complicated. Bravo.

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  27. Oh my god, they look amazing! You guys are seriously amazing. I cannot wait to see everything all done and styled!

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  28. Ha! I just realized I used amazing twice... oh, well. You ARE amazing! and phenomenal! and stupendous!

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  29. Way to go!! This is very similar to what will be going in our family room... well, once the basement is built! lol keep your fingers crossed for me!

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Thanks so much for reading....your comments mean a lot to me!
Sara