Trash to treasure bookcases

I should have taken "before" pictures, but I didn't think of it. You know how that goes, you only think of "before" pictures when you are taking the "after" ones.

Well, anyway..........

 

Notice the bookcase. We bought it at an auction last fall. It was plain wood, no finish. Unless you want to call the dirt that was on it a "finish". And it had a back on it. Cardboard. Dirty cardboard.

We paid a whopping 6 bucks for it.

 

Later in the auction, another one came up for sale............

 

 

It had the same dirt finish. With the dirty cardboard back. But it was later in the day, some folks had left, and we only had to pay 1 buck for this one. Yay!

 

There was a man at the auction who was buying all kinds of antiques. You know, the ones we wanted but couldn't get because he had more money than we did.

 

He saw me looking at the shelves, and he made a comment about them being junk. I didn't say a word,  just smiled. When I bid on them, he snickered. I just smiled.

 

Once we got them home, I pulled 75,000 staples out of the cardboard back. Or something like that. I lost count after 50.

 

We hosed them off, then I used a bluish gray wood stain on them. We added the bracing to sturdy them up a bit. (somehow I don't think that is proper English)

 

Great display shelves!

 

Take that Mr. Snooty Snickers!!!