Bookcase Makeover – Traditional Cherry To Farmhouse Fab!
I am sharing my step-by-step directions for giving an old cherry bookcase a farmhouse fab makeover.
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I usually don’t put an exclamation mark in my blog post title, but y’all – I am so stinkin’ thrilled with the bookcase makeover for our home office! A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I was working on the bookcases and was concerned with how they were going to turn out. Thankfully, I’m in love with the end result and find myself stopping often just to stare at them!
Did you notice that the dining room is striped bare of all its fall finery? That’s because Christmas is in the house! LOL I’ll be sharing my Christmas dining room soon!
To fully appreciate the change in the bookcase, take a look at the before picture. These are cheap-o bookcases that had a waxy, fake looking cherry stain on them. Their most redeeming quality is that the open shelves are solid wood, so they don’t sag under the weight of a lot of books.
Here they are today, after giving them a couple of coats of primer paint (to completely cover the red’ish stain) and brushing on gray stain. I used one of those cheap chip brushes to apply the stain and allowed it to dry without wiping any of the stain off. Primer paint used: Kilz 2 Latex Primer in Gray. Stain used: Rustoleum Ultimate Wood Stain in Weathered Gray.
This closeup shows the weathered looking finish that was created by brushing the stain on top of the wood and allowing it to dry without wiping it off.
I know that the gray of the barn door and gray of the bookcase doesn’t match, but I think that it makes the door look more authentic.
You might wonder why I chose to cover half of the bookcases with a sliding barn door. Well, it’s because I needed more storage space, not more space to display tchotchkes. The shelves behind the sliding door are filled with boxes that hold all sorts of home office paraphernalia. This side of the bookcase is only open when we need access to something in one of those storage boxes.
I was a little scared of the door, because I was convinced that installing the sliding door hardware was going to be complicated. Nothing could have been further from the truth! After much research and shopping around, we ordered the hardware from Home Depot. CLICK HERE TO ORDER THE SAME HARDWARE.
The smallest size available was a few inches longer than what we needed, so the hubs used our Dremel to cut the slider bar down to the correct length. I touched the end up with a black magic marker and now you’d never know that it had been cut.
We built the barn door out of pre-painted rustic lumber which is sold at Home Depot. Each piece of lumber was 8′ long and had a rabbited edge on each side. One rabbited edge faces the front and other faces in the back.
I was unable to find the lumber online, but our store had it in stock the last time that we were there.
Having those rabbited edges made building the door a dream! First, we determined how wide we wanted our door to be. Then the hubs laid the lumber out on the floor of our garage, using wood glue along each rabbited edge, and allowed it to thoroughly dry. No nails or screws were used in this part of building the door.
After the glue had dried, the door was cut to the length that we wanted and other boards were cut down to be used to frame out the top, sides and for a middle brace. Those boards were attached with wood glue and wood screws.
Thankfully, Home Depot had a label on the backside of each of the pieces of lumber with the paint formula that was used to paint the wood. I had a small container of that mixed at the store and used it to touch up the few places that needed it after the construction was completed. A wrought iron gate handle, also from Home Depot, finished the door off.
Unless I come up with something else, this office makeover only has one project left to do and that’s getting some artwork up on that wall behind the desk chair! You can catch up on all of the projects that have gone into this makeover, from start to finish, HERE. UPDATE! CHECK OUT THE FULL BEFORE AND AFTER OFFICE REVEAL HERE!
how cute is this! I love the unique barn door idea – it came out so cool!
That bookcase project is absolutely BEAUTIFUL!! I’m saving this for a project this
coming year as I have a built-in bookcase where this would be a great improvement.
Thanks.
Adding the barn door is genius!
Super gorgeous! Couldn’t be any classier.
This is just brilliant! I have so many dark, ugly bookshelves. I love the idea of having some private storage! I am so stealing this idea!
The book case is gorgeous, what a great idea to add a barn door. I wondered how you added the slide bar to the top because it was narrow but I see that is answered in another’s comment. Thanks for sharing this tutorial, you did a fabulous job with the stain and the barn door, it is truly an inspiration!
You have inspired me!! I have some tired looking cherry bookcases that desperately need some updating!! I am so trying the prime/stain technique on them. Thank you for sharing all of your ideas with us–your blog is one of my very favorites!
This bookcase makeover just keeps drawing me back, again and again. I will steal this idea for sure! LOVE it!
Love the Bookcase door and color. Maybe I can talk my husband into a makeover for my Bookcase.
Love The door and the color.
Brilliant. I have a simple set of bookcases that could do with an update and now I know exactly what I am going to do!
Thank you.
What a great idea, to add a barn door to bookshelves! Thanks for the tutorial!
that is Awesome!!! Gonna have to get the Hubby to do it to our bookcases!!!
Fabulous makeover. Giving me some ideas…. thank you!
I LOVE your bookshelf makeover! How original and creative!! You did an amazingly job and I love the color!
That is a wonderful change. I love when you can do something so cool and it does not cost that much money but has such a big impact.
Just wondering, since these are bookcases, does the rail for the barn door attach to the top of the book cases? I love the idea! You did a great job. Thanks for the information.
Hi Becky. I would have liked to attach the rail to the bookcases, but there is a small crown moulding at the top of them that was in the way. So, my husband added a piece of wood to the top and to the sides and that is what the rail is attached to. I then painted/stained the pieces of wood so that they would match the bookcases.
We downsized and now I have no office.. What I do have in the family room is an 8 foot inset on one wall. This will be my new mini office. I need 2 bookcases and a desk. Have been searching and searching for a desk that I can close.. I really like what you did with the book cases.. My wheels are churning now. May see about doing this but having my DH build them but make them deeper so I can incorporate a desk in the center with the bookcases flanking the desk. Hmmmm Thx!
Best bookcase makeover I’ve seen!
I love this, it is so beautiful and just want I am looking for. Wish my hubby we as talented as yours!