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UHeart Organizing: A Really "Good"will Bookcase Makeover!

One of the many reasons I instantly fell for my friend, Anneke, is because she has this amazing gift of making over furniture.  Seriously, it is hard to put into words just how talented she is and how stunning her pieces look after she gets her hands on them.  For me, furniture equals storage.  So naturally I have an admiration for furniture and furniture makeovers. 

Today's example is no exception.  Anneke scored big when she found some thrifted bookcases; a pair I am guessing were glanced over by person after person.  Not everyone has the eye to see potential in outdated furniture, but because Anneke did, she now has great and beautiful storage.  Here she is now!


I have to be honest. Since the last time I visited here with all of you awesome IHeart Organizing readers, the stress of moving, commuting, and so-on was really starting to wear on me......so much so that I was in a major DIY slump. We recently downsized this past August from our custom-built home to our beach house rental and are truly so glad we did. However, we went from a full-size mudroom, full-size walk-in closet, full-size walk-in pantry, and pretty much large everything - to no mudroom, teeny-tiny-closet, no pantry, and so on. To say that I've been in full-fledged organizational mode is a massive understatement! With all of the day to day grind though, I just didn't want to take the time to find thrifted storage pieces that would work in our new home. I'd been burnt out on DIY. To be blunt, I just wanted everything perfectly organized as fast as possible before I literally went crazy! I didn't want to waste any more time simply not being able to find things.

Well, low and behold I walk into Goodwill one day, and there before me were these:


I just.about.died.  Kid's book storage has been on my top 5 list of "Most Important Storage Needs" and I kept coming up short on Craigslist for bookcases. These would be perfect! And at $12.99 a piece, I said, "Load 'em up!" In our last home {shown below}, we did really well when we switched to using baskets for books. The kids can easily grab a basket, {which we try to keep organized by themes such as "boyish", "girlish", seasonal, particular reading levels, etc.}, take it wherever they'd like to read, then bring the basket back when they are done. No more books piled on the shelves and disorganized = winning.


It's a system that has finally clicked for our family, so I definitely wanted to implement that same idea in our beach house.  I decided to refinish these new found bookcases, place them side by side, and then top them off with a large rustic wood board to create an instant entryway console that can accommodate our baskets of books. The thrifted finish on these were just plain awful....almost as if a stain were applied directly over the top. That just doesn't work as you can see.