Furniture Redo: Kitchen Bookshelf

This is the before of the bookshelf that will be going in my kitchen.  The color is not that bad, it just looked a little dingy and dark.  I want to lighten and brighten my house up and this piece did not fit that feeling. 

I took the piece to my garage and took all of the shelves out.  I sanded everything down and primed it.  I put 3 coats of cream paint on it and then roughed up the edges with 60 grit sandpaper.

Here's a tip: To get the wood to show through in the crevesis of moldings on a piece of furniture, I use a small screw driver and scrap the paint off and then sand it smooth. It's hard to get in there with sandpaper. I usually scrap in random spots while the paint is still slightly wet.

I used Minwax Finishing wax to finish it off and here it is in my Kitchen:

Got these at Fry's Grocery store on sale and used my Cricut to vinyl-ize them!

Finally a place to store all of my cookbooks!

(notice the straw container in the background...used a pickle jar...my kids love having them handy)

Homework station... LOVE IT!

The pencil and crayon holders are reused Febreeze candle holders and the metal containers came from Goodwill for $0.50 each)

To do list:

~ Encase square windows above bookshelf with molding

~ Plant some herbs for the top of bookshelf

~ Make Bench for entryway

~ Find a piece for other entry wall or look for other inspiration

What's on your to do list?

Linking up with the parties below: