Painting Our Built-In Bookcase Entertainment Center & Wet Bar

Remember good ole school project procrastination? That's how this felt. Our massive built-in bookcases/entertainment center and wet bar were nagging eyesores. We didn't like them but we also did not want to embark on updating them. But we had to get it done.

We were toying with the ideal of ripping them out. Unfortunately, the hardwood floors actually stop midway under the cabinets, which means we'd have to completely redo/replace the floor as well as reconstruct the wall behind it. So we went with the slightly less grueling option...paint.

The custom built-ins were originally black and brown, and housed two large aquariums.

And then our sellers slapped on a glossy beigey brown...

When we moved in, we had the ceilings painted (because I don't think they had been touched since '84), and then we painted the walls gray and changed the accent wall from burnt orange-ish red to dark navy. With the walls updated, the built-ins were the big beige elephant in the room. So we gave in, got the supplies, and went to work.

My handy husband removed all the doors and hardware, and our empty front room turned into our doors and drawers workshop. There were lots of paint drips and roller fuzzies to sand down.

He came up with the genius idea to use Dixie Cups to prop up the doors so we could easily paint the edges and avoid major dripping/globs. I painted two coats on the backs first, let them dry for a few days, and then flipped them over to do two coats on the front.

While I worked on those, my husband rocked out a lot of the sanding and detailing on the columns and shelves, which was definitely the difficult, time-consuming part. (Major kudos, hubs!)

Working on the first coat of the beast...

The Home Depot paint guy recommended we use BEHR Premium Plus Ultra paint instead of our go-to Marquee because it was cheaper and we'd need to do multiple coats anyway. Well, it ended up needing three coats. I think we would have only had to do two if we used Marquee but oh well. It sure does look purdy now! 

We worked on these every day for a week and a half, and are so happy with the end result. These were our project MVPs: HANDy Paint Cup, Wooster Pro Brush Set and Mini Microfiber Roller.

I know what you're thinking. Why didn't we use this wonderful invention called a sprayer? It seemed like more work to tarp and tape half of the room. Plus, neither of us have experience with them and this was not going to be our guinea pig project.

I gotta say, this was definitely worth the effort. It completely transformed the room. Paint really does work wonders! We're waiting a couple weeks before putting anything on the shelves but I can't wait to style them. I've been doing plenty of Pinterest research. We just need new curtains, furniture, and a fireplace mantle (the seller ripped out and threw away the original), and our family room will be complete!