racing stripe bookcase: before and after

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Glidden® paint through their partnership with POPSUGAR Select. While I was compensated to write a post about Glidden paint, all opinions are my own.

While cleaning out my hall closet, I found a great little bookcase that had been hidden behind piles of coats, umbrellas and who knows what else. An old piece that came from my parents garage years ago that was sturdy but the victim of a very bad refinishing job.

So when Glidden® paint asked if I'd like to try their Glidden paint Duo Paint + Primer, I knew I had a good candidate on my hands. I wanted something bright and fresh for this little number. Something to give it a bit of style.

Color combos were an important consideration for me because I wanted something bright and, you know me - colorful, but I also wanted something different. What better chance to step out of your color comfort zone then with a blah piece of furniture, am I right? I even took a quick poll on Instagram.

Coral and white won out in the end thanks to a beautiful shade called Glidden paint's Cheery Cherry. Great name, right? Right up my alley. I tried the Glidden paint's Bright White in Eggshell and Glidden paint's Cheery Cherry in Semi-Gloss.

After stripping and sanding the bookshelf, I was ready to start painting. (Check this out for more info on how I strip and prep furniture for paint).

Disregard the beat up manicure and focus on my too very close hand. See any paint on there? Me neither. One of my biggest beefs when painting is all of the spray that ends up on my hand when rolling the paint on. I see one little spec of paint on my hand and this was after painting the whole piece. Aces.

Two coats later I had a bright white bookcase ready for a bit of fun.

All kinds of crazy ideas went thru my head on what to do with the inside of the bookshelf. I knew I didn't want to just paint the whole inside one color as that is the way it was before and it left the inside like a black hole. A stencil or some type of pattern crossed my mind but because of its size and fixed shelves, I thought it would end up looking too busy once it had books etc. inside. Ultimately, the single racing stripe won out.

The hubs helped to measure everything out to make sure that the stripe was centered and consistent all the way down.

Once the tape is down it is vital to paint one more coat of your base color over the tape to prevent any bleed thru. Learn from my mistakes people, this will make for very straight lines. It is so worth the extra step.

Two coats of Glidden paint's Cheery Cherry and I've got myself a racing stripe bookcase. I'm in love.

Straight lines make me giddy. And that semi gloss finish on the racing stripe gives just the right amount of shine.

I've already moved this bookcase into a few different spots, banging it when going thru doorways (when will I ever learn) but the paint has stayed in great shape. Not a nick in site. I'm loving the style it will bring to my new walk in closet.

Have you painted anything lately? Are you into racing stripes as much as I am? Is it possible that I'm obsessed with coral now?