Bookshelf Project

Spent part of Saturday and Sunday staining a bookcase that I bought at Ballard Bookcase Company. I like to work on projects and this one was fun to do.

First thing was to put on some clothes that I could get stained:


With trusty brush in hand I was ready to start sanding to rough up the surface and remove some slight discoloration I noticed on the top.

Then there was some pre-staining prep for soft woods like pine. The bookcase is make of a soft white pine and should be prepped with the wood conditioner. But first a light sanding with 150 grit sandpaper to even out the color on top. The square on top was caused by the sign that displayed the price on top of the bookcase.

The wood conditioner is pretty strong smelling stuff, I was getting a pretty good contact high. Couldn’t imagine using this stuff indoors.

Shelves are pretty tricky because you have to hold them carefully while applying the wood conditioner. Also not very much fun to get a strong acrid substance on your shirt or legs.



Now on to the stain. I really like this color. A nice deep rich mahogany stain & polyurethane finish. Can’t wait to get a few more coats on to even out the color. I’ll put a final picture up once it is done. Each coat takes about 8 hours to cure.