Bookcase Before and After

You already know that my father-in-law is a ninja. He's a ninja in his shop, making beautiful creations out of wood. The bar in our downstairs living room, our entertainment center {exact replica of the Pottery Barn Logan Media Suite}, and the kids' bunk beds are just a few of the projects he's worked on for Dave and me. Dave's younger brother, Jon, inherited some of their father's skills and has proved himself pretty handy in the woodshop, too.

When Dave and I got married, Jon's gift to us was a set of beautiful tall bookcases. They lived in our first apartment, and they moved with us into our first home where they've served us well in at least four rooms. Our brilliant children have found uses for the bookcases that I never would have thought of, including bunk beds.

Looks like cramped quarters.

The latest move for the boockases was to the upstairs living room where I wanted them to hold books, pictures, and an assortment of other pretty items.

Fabulous, but I thought they could be jazzed up just a bit. Since the big bathroom makeover, I've fallen in love with black wood, especially black wood contrasted with a bright white. I had a whole lot of Behr's Dark Cavern left over from the bathroom project and didn't waste any time running Operation Bookcase Transformation by Dave. He loves Dark Cavern as much as I do and couldn't wait to see the end result.

Three coats of Dark Cavern later, and presto chango! These bookcases have gone from ordinary to extraordinary.

I love the contrast they bring against Grant Beige and Swiss Coffee residing on the walls. I've adorned their shelves with some of our favorite books and pictures.

If you look closely, you'll notice the bottom two shelves of both bookcases are bare. I think I might use that space for baskets to store the kids' favorite artwork and projects, but until I get a chance to shop for the perfect containers, I've elected to keep them empty. Why? There's a certain someone who takes great pleasure in ripping down anything placed on the shelves, and that little darling is vicious.

What have you transformed lately?

Side note: There is an ongoing "discussion" in the house about Dark Cavern by Behr. Dave calls it dark brown, and I say it's a soft charcoal black. So when I brought up the idea to paint the bookcases black like the bathroom cabinets, he said, "You mean dark brown?" Every guest in our home gets grilled: "What do you think? Do you think this color is black? Or would you call it brown? It's black, right?" For now, we've agreed to refer to the color by its name, Dark Cavern, to avoid any further discussions. But since I am the sole author of this blog, I will call Dark Cavern black, and if you're at The Home Depot and want to check it out for yourself, please do. But if you agree with my husband, kindly keep it to yourself. I could be ahead in this race and don't want anything to jeopardize my standings. That is all.