Back to School Supplies

The phrase "Back to School Supplies" takes on a new meaning when you home school. Yes, new clothes aren't needed...(unless the kids have outgrown the old ones!).
Backpacks, or a supply list from the teacher don't need to be filled. However, storage and organized space is always helpful!

The demolition begins!.....we took the plywood backing off.

After a good sanding, we start with a coat of black paint....this helps with the "aging"/distressing process when we apply the topcoat.

The past few days we've been "readying" the house for the start of school. My husband has been busy with start of his school (he is the choir director at a local high school), but he still worked on the "getting ready for school" projects here at home.Now the topcoat is painted.

The "Duh" moment came to us while we were considering more space for books. I don't know why we didn't think of it a few years ago when we moved into our home. But we didn't, and the bookcases we had in our other home just sat in our garage here for almost four years. So, we measured and rearranged some furniture and the old bookcases would fit! Perfect for all the books that were still in the garage AND books for school.

The shelves all painted and drying.

After the creamy topcoat, a little sanding to show the black paint, and then some antiquing (burnt umber oil) is applied.

Our bookcases were a purchase we made many years ago and they are only oak veneer, so we didn't mind painting them to match our existing furniture in the room.

There are two bookcases....I snapped a photo of this one before the shelves were placed.

And this is the smaller bookcase full of books, ETC! :)

A work space was next....one son works mostly on the kitchen table (gotta keep my eye on him!). The other one works in his room, but last year his desk was a little wobbly and needed refurbishing.

My husband took the old desk apart and saved the keyboard drawer and the desktop, but the rest went into the trash.

He built the bottom of the desk, adding a cubbie and some tapered legs with decorative insets on the sides and back.

(I'll have to hide those cords somehow!)

And we painted it to match most of the other furniture in the house...a creamy off-white with distressing.
That color seems to look best against the tan walls and makes our rooms and house look bigger! Lol!

So, school starts this week...and we now have more space for all sorts of things...and maybe a book or two! :)