A Fresh Start... For an Old Bookcase

An old, broken and shattered bookcase was given a Fresh Start with some General Finishes Chalk Style Paint and the results are absolutely gorgeous.
Our challenge for the January Fab Furniture Flippin' Contest was to give an old piece of furniture "A Fresh Start" using General Finishes Chalk Style paint. I recently had the opportunity to test out General Finishes Milk Paint so was pretty excited to get to try their new Chalk Style Paint as well.
I chose this antique bookcase that I had found on a road trip not long ago. It was in sad, sad shape (probably why it had been left at a thrift store for so long!). Part of the glass was missing, the doors were broken off and the wood was scratched to pieces. It certainly fit the bill of needing A Fresh Start to the tee!
I began by giving the bookcase two coats of the General Finishes Chalk Style Paint in Key West Blue. This paint, like the Milk Paint I had recently tried, acted very much like a latex paint. It covered beautifully and was a nice thick paint with beautiful pigmentation.
Once the wood was painted, I wanted to add a little character to the bead board wallpaper that had been added to the back. Thankfully, it was still in pretty good shape and just needed some minor repairs and a little pick-me-up with some General Finishes Milk Paint in Snow White.
To get the right consistency of paint that would be used to highlight the lines, I mixed the General Finishes Chalk Style Paint in Key West Blue with some water to create a wash.
A wash is simply watered down paint that has more of a translucent quality to it.
I used the wash to outline the groves of the bead board wallpaper. I wanted the lines to have a hand painted, anything-but-perfect look about them; like they had been there for years. The wash and a fine round paint brush created the look perfectly.
When the lines were done, they reminded me of the pin stripes on a vintage men's dress shirt :)
To finish off the bookcase and give it a look worthy of it's age, I went to town distressing the paint. I used a medium grit sandpaper and sanded off the paint in the areas that would have naturally been worn had the piece been painted a hundred years ago.
The paint had adhered really well so when I was sanding it, I didn't have to worry about it coming off excessively or uncontrollably.
It distressed beautifully and when it was sanded, showed some hints of the colours used to make the blue. A warm hint of yellow showed through in a few areas which added another layer of depth and added to the beauty.
I just can't say enough how my heart skips a beat when I see worn, distressed, chippy paint on an antique piece of furniture. *Sigh*
I couldn't be happier with the gorgeous finish I was able to achieve with the General Finishes Chalk Style Paint! As with the Milk Paint, this is definitely a paint I will be using again.
Recreated Designs
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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  • I can see this piece sitting in an antique store full of Meemaw's little knick knacks.
  • Mir Graham Mir Graham on Jan 25, 2016
    Molding aside... since people seem focused on that... I love that you repurposed the curio into a bookcase and those strips are darling. You did a fantastic job saving this previously neglected piece.
    • Recreated Designs Recreated Designs on Jan 25, 2016
      @Mir Graham Thanks! I love the stripes too :) They remind me of an old men's dress shirt :)
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