Project: Bookcase

Readers, meet unfinished bookcase that had been banished to the basement until I had the bright idea of learning how to stain it. This is part of my lofty goal of learning how to stain, then strip and restain in the hopes that I can feel confident enough to restain our bathroom and kitchen cabinets. See, I told you lofty. Anyway, I'm starting small with this unassuming, unfinished pine bookcase.

I asked the fine people at Lowe's how to do it. I was told to get a medium grit sandpaper, sand the rough areas. I sanded all over actually.

I then used a wood conditioner to prep the wood to be stained. I used a foam brush to paint it on.

These next pics are of the first coat of the finish on. I still have another coat to do before I am done. It's airing out in the shed outside. If it's nice this weekend I'll probably do it outside on the back deck so it doesn't get so fumy in the basement