New Bookcase

I have been wanting to add some height to our decor. I knew I wanted shelves but wasn't hopeful in finding the tall skinny shelves I needed. Then I walked up to these skinny giants at a yardsale! The owner was originally asking $25/piece, but said she would make me a "deal". I offerred $30/both and she said yes! Score!

While I love the height and width on these giants, I am not too keen on oak. It seems so...blah! 

I do,however, LOVE rustic, pallets, antiques, vintage...you get the idea. With the ideas brewing and after consulting with my handy hubby,  I made a plan. 

The bookshelves didn't need to be sanded or primed. The finish just happened to be perfect for gripping the paint. I wanted an off white or at least something that wasn't going to blind me everytime the sun hit it. (FYI: its new home is in the sunroom.)

While we were in town and visiting Lowes...(Randy needed to pick up extra field fence for our fence project...shoot! I need to give you a finished photo--don't I?) Sorry--I digress....I asked Randy to grab an "antique-white" paint--eggshell finish. As always he picked the perfecct color! 

These babies took exactly one quart of paint!

Now that I had the paint completed, I needed to find my final supplies. What I though would be a hassel to find ended up being quite simple! Our new neighbor had an abundance of old fence and said I could have a few panels! Yippee!! 

I grabbed a hammer and started pulling this dusty things apart. I only ran into a few spiders--one Black Widow--eek! After I sweeping them down and pulling nails, I laid them out inside the bookshelf to judge lengths and staggering the seams. I trimmed them up with a miter saw,  pieced  the trimmed pieces back together until I was happy...then used two tubes of liquid nail to hold them in place. (Two was a bit excessive, but I wanted to make ensure they were going to stay put.)

After placing every spare heavy item I could find on the glued fence pieces, I allowed tgem to cure overnight. The next morning, I sat the bookshelf up and wah-lah! They were staying in place!

Dilemma number two...now my shelves were too deep and needed to be trimmed down to fit. Using my handy tape meausre I measured the narrowest point, lined up the shelf on the table saw and cut to size. Because the fence was left in its original condition the depths varied. I had to meaure each shelf individually and cut to size. The only suggestion I have--should you take on this project--is to verify where you want the shelves to permanently sit--you can't add depth back onto a shelf once cut. Of course, you can always cut more off! :) 

All of the shelves cut...and...

The bookcase in its forever home! I will be using this beauty for homework organization and art supplies! Love it!