We’ve been living in our Holbrook home for 363 days and we *finally* gave our living room built-ins a makeover. We weren’t ready to redesign the built-ins, so we did the next best thing – a budget makeover! Here’s to paint built-in bookshelves that can completely transform your room.
We quickly went from old and dingy…
…to bright and beautiful built-ins.
It is critical to get the paint job done right – if not, the paint can start to peel, tear, and easily get damaged; trust me, we found this out the hard way. Here’s how we upgraded our bookcases on a budget.
Supply List:
Sanding Block
Wood Filler
Swiffer Pad or Cloth
PPG Gripper Primer
Indoor Acrylic Paint – We used Sherwin Williams Drift of Mist
Woodster Pro Brush
Foam Roller
Steps
The first step in this project was cleaning the place up! I removed all of the random items that were sitting on the shelves and took off all of the drawer and door hardware.
If you are painting any wooden surface: built-ins, baseboards, window trim, cabinets, etc. – you need to prime. If you don’t prime, your paint won’t fully adhere to the surface. An equally critical step is sanding (or liquid sanding, yes, it’s a thing!). Our first step was to lightly sand the surface – we’re not talking an orbital sander and making a mess – we’re talking sanding block and a quick run-through. Once we did a quick sanding, we filled in all of the wood holes. Most of the holes in our built-ins were surface level, so our wood filler was dry in 15 minutes. After a quick break, it was time to sand …. again.
To clean up the sanding mess, I used our broom to grab any stuck-on dust then vacuumed up. Finally, to pick up any remaining fine dust, I used a Swiffer Sweeper pad. These are great at attaching to any fine sanding dust that is left behind in corners or on surfaces that the vacuum didn’t grab.
Once everything was clean, it was time to prime. So far, I’ve had a great experience with the PPG Gripper. It gives the paint a great surface to stick to.
Then it was finally time to paint! I used a combination of my favorite Woodster Pro brush and a 4-inch foam roller. I started by using my brush to paint the corners and edges of the surface. I followed that with my foam roller to give the built-ins an extra-smooth look. I allowed the first coat of paint to dry a full 24-hours before coming in with the second coat. Sherwin Williams says to wait at least 4-hours before following up with a second coat. I was in no rush and had some Prison Break to finish, so 24-hours it was.
After waiting at least another 24-hours for the paint to fully cure, I added the new hardware! We upgraded from dark-yellow toned brass hardware to some new gold hardware. We stuck with a cabinet pull for the drawers and round knobs for the cabinets.
And here is the finished look!
All in, this three-day makeover cost less than $100!
Wood Filler: $4.48
Sanding Block: $4.27
Foam Roller: $4.97
Woodster Brush: $9.97
Quart of Primer: $11.98
Quart of Paint: $19.98
New Drawer Pulls: $5.48 x 4
New Cabinet Knobs: $4.48 x 4
Love this!!! Keep em comin!