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Monday, August 24, 2009

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! :)

10 comments:

Carole said...

Hey there Suzanne. Love the nice job you did on your bookcase and desk. I was happy to see that you didn't just line all your books in a row, instead some were on their side and in addition, other things were added for interest.
Great job!
Carole

Caitlin said...

I really liked seeing how you did this.

Anonymous said...

Hello There! I love love love this post because I know just what you mean because we are gearing up for the start of our hone school year too!

I love the way everything turned out. ;)

I hope you and yours are well.

Doreen Frost said...

Good morning Suzanne. I LOVE the bookcase..that looks fantastic..I also love the desk..very nice job on both :)

I think it is absolutely wonderful that you home school your children!

Hugs, Doreen

Ruth Fraser Davis said...

Well done, you. Things look nifty indeed.

And rightly said by Another, there's nothing like a new book case to fill!

Caitlin said...

I just saw that it's Tasha Tudor day
on Friday. Thanks! Now if only I
could get up to Vermont in September
and make a marionette w/ Majorie
Tudor (daughter in law?) and take a
tour of Tasha Tudor's garden...more
details are on the Tasha Tudor website.

Manuela@A Cultivated Nest said...

Another year of school! You guys did such a great job with the bookcases (can you ever have enough?) and desk! I'm going to paint my desk but I have to do it inside so we'll see how that works out!

Manuela

Ruth Welter said...

Love the desk and the bookshelf Suzanne...I also like the fact you save money on not having to buy all those "back to school" clothes.

Ruth

Heather said...

wow! now that's productive! happy 'back to school' :D

Lana Manis said...

Suzanne, please tell Jeff that I need bookcases too! I think Roger has been so busy working for everyone else that I'll never get my built-ins!

Everything looks great!

Happy September!!! :)