This was one of my first furniture projects. I purchased this well-built and sturdy bookcase for $75. My husband thinks I overpaid and maybe I did, but this baby is solid hardwood and I hate to haggle!
This bookcase had a lot of gouges and some water damage so the first step was a lot of sanding.
Then I primed and painted the whole thing a beautiful cream color. I knew I wanted to highlight the spoon carving, and I also hadn’t decided yet if I wanted to distress the finish, so I wanted to have the cream color underneath.
Then I painted the whole thing black
After the coats of black paint were finished, I loved how the spoon carving was highlighted. I made a stencil by tracing the design on a piece of hard plastic and cutting out the design with an X-acto knife. I repeated the design by stenciling it on each shelf, for this result:
In the end I did very little distressing, choosing to leave it mostly sleek and smooth. After a couple coats of polyurethane, it was finished!
Roots and Wings 