Featured I hate paint - is this bookcase worth it?

Don't get me wrong - I love ORIGINAL painted surfaces, and collect those on antique furniture when I can. But I try to avoid furniture that has been painted when it never should have been in the first place. I like the design of this bookshelf, which looks early 20th century to me. And the wood on this bookshelf is complete, and an easy repair to put back together.

But it was repainted twice (white then blue) so I was planning to pass it on to let someone else worry about. Unfortunately I need more shelf space and found a perfect spot for it. So I tried test paint removal on it, hoping I would be lucky and paint would peel off easily. No such luck; good removal will take quite some time. Fumed oak under all the paint, I think.

Am I kidding myself? Should I just repaint some other color, or would this be worth the effort to strip off the paint? Any opinions about age also welcome.

 

My 2 cents? Its very cute,but Id just paint it in a color I could live with as taking off layers of paint is just too much work for what may very well be not so pretty wood.

 

What Johnny said.

 

I’d strip a little bit right down to see if it’s worth doing the rest.
If not, I’d just paint it again.
But don’t forget, I know nothing about furniture so it could be priceless!

 

Every piece of it is flat. I'd take it apart and sand it compared to using paint stripper. But that's just me - I have all of the goodies to accomplish it that way -

 

It’s very nice. If you are keeping it, do it. I often do this and after all work and effort I can’t price it, as nobody pays for all effort. So I end up keeping it all

 

yes....it's cute and usable ............ paint it funky !!!!

 

I would do it. It’s a lot of work but the end result is often worth it. Check to see what the wood grain is like underneath, then if it’s worth it I suggest a heat gun or paint stripper and Xylene.

It does look older to me, maybe 1910’s to 1940’s?

 

Just maybe NOT this "funky" - unless your room has functioning Black Lights - I'm "Hip" on the "Strip"

 

IMO, it really depends on the wood - pine often absorbs that first coat of paint due to it's open grain, making for a lot of sanding to get it clean. A nice hardwood is always worth the work involved in stripping.

 

It is made of oak, which was bad enough. Nevertheless, I did end up stripping and refinishing this, not because of value but because I needed a piece this exact size (and I liked the design which looks of the period to me). If anyone ever wants to do something like this, I broke it apart like Rayo suggested into pieces (with a wood mallet so no damage) and removed all nails, since flat pieces of wood are MUCH easier to strip than a piece of furniture with crevices all stuck together. Best approach turned out to be using flat scrapers. Getting into the cutouts on the side panels took the most time. Took much more time than I would have liked. I'll take a pic if anyone is interested how it turned out.

 

I was afraid you'd say that I forgot I had even posted this thread, and only saw it because I was looking for an old post about windsor chairs.

Unfortunately I didn't take a picture after I was finished, but did take a couple while I was gluing. Process was: 1. break apart into flat pieces; 2. strip paint primarily using flat scrapers when chemical stripping didn't work; 3. sand as needed (not much - removing any remaining paint and preparing wood for finish); 4. glue and screw together with brass screws and tacks; 5. apply finish.

It is too dark to take a pic of the finished unit now, but I'll do it tomorrow. Anyway the pics I do have, step 4. gluing, show why repairing furniture the correct way is seldom done: it takes too much time, especially waiting for drying of glue and multiple coats of finish (hide glue and three finish coats in this case); oh and of course it also takes a lot of clamps.

 

I like the old clamps used with the new ones......
I've got the blue and yellow ones....they rock !

seeing the wood now......I'd wax it.....love that grain !

 

You can drop that CAREFULLY at my/our front door anytime....just let us know WHEN!!!! LOVE IT!!!!! I happen to LOVE the finish the way it basically is, i.e. NOT painted, but of course that's up to you!!! ENJOY it, you earned it!!!!!!!!! DH is ALWAYS trying to STOP and pick items (REALLY GOOD ONES!) up in front of peoples houses, and I'm ALWAYS SAYING NO.....KEEP DRIVING, WE DON'T HAVE THE ROOM.....BUT had nice shelving like that been out there, I actually WOULD have let him pick it up!!!!!

 

Hide glue is my goto glue, though I also use Titebond carpenter 1, exterior 3, even epoxy depending on what I am gluing. Hide glue is largely ignored these days, but it is incredibly good glue - I have 250 year old furniture that was glued with it and it is STILL holding. And 100 year old drums that are still perfectly round even with all the tension they are under. Most of the furniture I repair is old enough to have used it originally, so it is automatically the best choice in my opinion. Plus I hate removing carpenter glue when undoing old repairs - it is quite hard to remove, unlike hide glue which only needs to be soaked in water. There was even some carpenter glue used in an old repair on this bookshelf that I had to remove with the paint, though luckily not that much.

So here is a pic of the shelf unit in place, sorry it isn't at its best. Partially loaded with stuff I'm afraid, but still too much for me to unload it and take it outside for better quality pics. You'll see I left the wood as it is without trying to fill the shallow cracks - I'm perfectly fine with old wood looking like old wood - in fact I prefer it that way!

 

Very nice! Thank you for sharing.