The bookcase redo

Yesterday after noon, I looked at this dark, jumbled bookcase and decided that the time had come to paint it.  After WAY too many hours, it now looks like this:

The whole process was tedious, but pretty easy.  First I took everything out (we have a lot of stuff...) and took it apart.  Then I sanded it down and cleaned it, and taped up the glass.  That took much longer than it should have.

It took quite a few more coats than I thought as it was a really dark brown.  (I had to go back to the store for more paint - but I can't think of a painting project where I haven't had to do that!) 

I sprayed all the hardware white, which was pretty stinky and cold with the window open!  Once I had it all painted (5 - 6 coats) I stuck some wrapping paper from Ikea ( on sale for $1!!) on the back with some spray adhesive and a squeegee.

Putting the doors back on just about killed me for some reason...stupid Ikea hardware!

Then we unpacked the last of the boxes from the garage (one year later!) and I put all the stuff back in.  Our Czech crystal from Chris's family looks especially nice against the white!

I am quite pleased with the result, it makes the room seem a little brighter and more spacious (at least to me) and I like that all of our precious keepsakes are more visible.  Slapping a million coats of paint also makes it feel a little less Ikea.  But I don't think I will ever be turning into a DIY goddess like Jenny any time soon.  Chris was awesome in that he didn't tell me I was crazy too many times, and he spent most of the weekend with the kids.  And he only pointed out that we could have bought this piece in white once.  Or twice...