{"id":60581,"date":"2016-07-24T00:08:11","date_gmt":"2016-07-24T07:08:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/?p=60581"},"modified":"2016-07-24T00:08:11","modified_gmt":"2016-07-24T07:08:11","slug":"furniture-makeover-merit-badge-intermediate-level","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/60581","title":{"rendered":"Furniture Makeover Merit Badge, Intermediate Level"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\tThe adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our<\/span> Sisterhood Merit Badge program<\/span><\/span><\/a>, now with\u00a07,050 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far\u201410,044 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! ~MaryJane\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Wondering who I am? I\u2019m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my <\/span>former life<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

For this week\u2019s Make It Easy\/Furniture Makeover Intermediate Level Merit Badge<\/u><\/a>, I was enjoying my new, upcycled, one-of-a-kind nightstand so very much, I figured I was more than ready for the next project.<\/p>\n

I cracked my knuckles, rolled up my sleeves, paused the latest episode of whatever was on the DIY Network, and got down to business.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

To earn my Intermediate Level badge, I had to invest a minimum of 10 hours and up my game, so to speak. I needed to do two different techniques and think big.<\/p>\n

Like \u2026 bookcase big.<\/p>\n

I had acquired a bookcase recently because \u2026 well, do you really need a reason to acquire another bookcase? Yeah, I didn\u2019t think so.<\/p>\n

A room without books is like a body without a soul. ~Cicero.<\/em><\/p>\n

Books are a uniquely portable magic. ~Steven King.<\/em><\/p>\n

Picking five favorite books is like picking five body parts you\u2019d most like not to lose. ~Neil Gaiman.<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019m the girl who fantasizes about being trapped in a library overnight. ~Rainbow Rowell.<\/em><\/p>\n

I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think that decorating consists of building enough bookshelves. ~Anna Quindlen.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"

American homes and gardens, 1905, via Wikimedia Commons<\/p><\/div>\n

This particular bookcase was well-made and sturdy (and most importantly could hold a lot of novels), but it had been painted an unfortunate shade of \u2026 well, baby poop? Is that a shade? Well, if it is, it\u2019s not selling real well at Sherman Williams, me thinks.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t want to just <\/em>paint, no sirree. I had other plans for my treasure. I had a stack of old maps from my days of collecting and subscribing to National Geographic<\/em>. There was a time when I would actually use said maps to look up a country or a distance or what-have-you, but to be frank, it had been years. Before easy access Internet, I s’pose.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Claude Bernou, map, circa 1650 via Wikimedia Commons<\/p><\/div>\n

So, the stack of maps sat in a box, and I longed to look at them once again. Lightbulb moment! A thin layer of Mod Podge (click here<\/u><\/a> for a homemade version) on the backs, cut to fit (Um, reverse those two orders or you\u2019re gonna end up with sticky hands and a colorful vocabulary. Don\u2019t be like me.), and use the maps to \u201cwallpaper\u201d the inside of your shelves.<\/p>\n

I painted the outside of the shelves and sides and tops with a pretty shade of white, then sanded it a bit to let some wood come through. I like the distressed look, but if you don\u2019t, skip the sanding and do two coats of your paint of choice.<\/p>\n

Make sure you do your research on what kind\/type of wood your furniture is before you buy your paint. Some will need a primer, some won\u2019t. Go for as non-toxic as possible: chalk paint is a gorgeous option. Same goes for stains and varnishes. Is your \u201cwood\u201d more like laminate? Never fear. Even those cheap-looking versions can be reclaimed and made to look good as new (or old, if you\u2019re a vintage lover). Just use an oil-based primer first.<\/p>\n

And a helpful note from me to you: Crack the windows if you\u2019re painting inside, okay? Some fumes will give you quite the woozy feeling. If you start painting the walls tie-dye and find yourself humming some Grateful Dead, you may need a break.<\/p>\n

You.<\/p>\n

Are.<\/p>\n

Welcome.\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with\u00a07,050 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far\u201410,044 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! ~MaryJane\u00a0 Wondering who … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gladsome_sisters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60581\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}