The Black Built-in Bookshelf

It’s Week 2 of the One Room Challenge, and progress is underway! Our family is super busy with tons of sports and fall activities that are winding down, so I’m sharing my updates with the idea: Progress not perfection. Let’s get into the topic of the black built-in bookshelf.

The Barn Door

If you’re following along over on Instagram, you saw me knock out the very first project on my list: Resizing a barn door. This project got its own share of DIY work that’s highlighted in stories. But, I didn’t *make* the door. This door was gifted to me out of someone else’s house, and you all know how much I love to repurpose anything and everything. The work I put in so far:

• Disassembled the frame
• Cut interior piece down to the right height
• Put the door back together again

The next step will be hanging the door, but that has to happen once the black built-in bookshelf is finished.

The Built-in

We’ve had this built-in bookshelf since the basement was finished in 2016. It’s still raw wood. I didn’t want to paint it because my children are so hard on painted surfaces. I also didn’t want to stain it because every time I thought about doing it, it was 15 below zero outside, and I couldn’t open the windows. This was high on my project priority list with the start of this basement makeover. (It’s an eye sore, I know.)

I asked you all to vote in stories, and so many of you chose the black stain. I’m so glad we are on the same wavelength! It would have looked beautiful in white, but this space already pulls so many traditional style vibes. Going black is going to modernize the look a bit.

The Progress

I spent a couple hours staining the interior. I used Varathane’s Ebony stain. My technique for this was to apply with a rag. The tiny edging that I couldn’t get to–I used a child’s paint brush. Same goes for the adjustment holes. The small paint brush fit right into the holes, coating them with stain so they don’t stand out. Any drips can be easily wiped. This stain also wipes off the eggshell wall paint that we have in this room. 

The Adhesive

Grrrr…I don’t know if I’ve ever felt so much annoyance as I have with the wall adhesive left over from my spontaneous install of LED lighting during Covid. (We were all desperate to make home fun, right?) After a solid, “I told you so,” from Hubs, I have admitted defeat. I *was* able to get it off the wall on the righthand edge of the bookshelf with the “Dawn dish soap in hot water” trick. But the ceiling? It just made the drywall wet enough that I peeled the top layer off, and then I patched it.

The Paint

I repainted the walls from Graceful Gray (seen in the before), to Silver City by Behr. This area got completed first. I had lots of knicks and holes to patch and sand. The ceiling is being done in the same color, Falling Snow by Behr, except I’m painting it with an eggshell finish. Yes, you read that right. Eggshell. On the ceiling. We have two full gallons and a lot of ceiling to paint. I just don’t feel like spending a chunk of change on flat paint right now. Plus, with ceilings this low, you should SEE the dirty fingerprints…gross. With flat paint, you can’t clean those off. I’m hoping that by choosing eggshell, I can wipe future prints away. I actually painted over a shoe print. From a shoe. On my ceiling. (Yikes, these kids.)

The Finished Black Built-in Bookshelf!

The moment you’ve been waiting for! Or, at least I’ve been waiting to get to this point for years–it’s done!

I stained the shelves, and then I used Polycrylic to coat the entire thing. It looks amazing.

Visit Week 3 to see the Shelf Styling process I went through.

What’s Next?

I will be updating this piece as I complete the project. To finish this project out, moving forward:

• Attach “running board” to the top for the sliding door
• Hang the sliding barn door

Come hang out on Instagram to see all the fun and other people’s projects!

Visit Week One to see the Mood Board

Visit Week Three for the Shelf Styling