Bookcase Do-Over

Guess what!  I have something to share with you!  And it's not sad.  :)

Firstly though... thank you to all of you who read my post about my sweet angel boys.  It means a lot to a mom who has lost a child to know that they are not forgotten.  So, just you reading my story about them comforts me.  An awesome friend is working on a picture of them for me and I can't wait to share it on here when it's ready!

But back to my happy -- not sad -- reason for hopping on here tonight!  I transformed a bookshelf.  I'm a transformer, if you will!  I've had this bookshelf since I got married (that was over 9 years ago) and my mom had it for heaven only knows how long before that.  This book shelf had seen far, far, FAR better days.  It started falling apart probably 20 years ago so she nailed a stick (basically) to the back of it to try and sturdy it up.  I'm sure it helped, but it was still a sad little bookshelf.  In fact, once I was talking to my mom about what furniture I had, trying to figure out what should go where in my house, and she laughed when I brought up the bookshelf and said "I can't believe you are counting that as an actual piece of furniture!"  But I'm so cheap, er, I mean frugal and I just couldn't throw it out!  So, I worked a little magic and now she's sturdy as Rocky Balboa!  Here's some before pics:

Check out what was holding up the shelves!  See that screw?  Also, one shelf didn't have all 4 corners supported so I had to have a little bucket on the shelf below to hold it up.  Super classy.

And here's my mom's fabulous 20-year-old work on the back.  This baby swayed with the wind she was so unsteady!

The bookcase makeover was really 2-part:  make it sturdier and make it cuter.

Part 1:  Sturdier
I took off that thin back board and threw it in the trasher!  Then I went to Lowe's and bought some slats for a wood fence.  I think they were about $1.15 each.  I wanted variety so some were 6" wide and some were 4".  Then we cut them to be the height of the bookcase and used a nail gun to hook them to the bookcase.  So easy!  Then I also got new little shelf holder things.  I don't even know what they're called but they're really inexpensive (a couple dollars is all) and now the shelves actually sit in place.  Imagine that!

Part 2:  Cuter
Before we hooked the fence posts to the bookcase, we sanded the corners of the boards and I stained them with a medium walnut stain.  Then I painted everything else a fun coral color.  Again, super easy!

And here's the after:

Now this is one of my favorite pieces of furniture in my bedroom.  Our comforter is white so this pop of color is just what our room needed!  I think with all my supplies the renovation probably cost about $25.

Oh and I have to show the fun vase I found at Hobby Lobby!  It matches our sheets/pillows perfectly  with the seaside blue color that I've got goin' on in here and it looks so cute next to my jewelry box!