A recent post on Apartment Therapy asked readers for their best method to refinish metal leg caps, which reminded me of a project I’d been meaning to tackle.
Remember this midcentury bookshelf that I picked up a few months back? (I think I paid something crazy like $2.99 for it!) It had loads of neeto-jets 45° angles, but the metal cap feet were unforgivably rusted out and were hardly worth highlighting.
However, I still had the gold paint pen from my frame project, so I taped off a leg and got to work. I was unsure how it would look, so I started with one of the back legs.
Of course, me being myself, I reused the blue painter’s tape with each leg as I am:
- Cheap.
- Loathe to be wasteful.
- Obsessive about how long I can go before replacing new stuff like stupidly expensive painter’s tape.
The project was actually quite fun, as I set up up in front of an episode of Alias. (J.J. Abrams being my second favorite producer/director after Joss Whedon.)
Hello, Jennifer Garner Sydney Bristow, why no wacky wig today?
And here’s how incredible the metal leg caps looked after the caresses of my magical golden pen.
Like the necklaces that adorn the chest of Mr. T, nothing but pure golden goodness is allowed.
“I pity the fool who lets their metal leg caps go rusty!”
I also went ahead and gave the wood a nourishing rubdown with my trusty Aspercreme Restore-A-Finish, which coaxes finished wood from dry to glossy, while also minimizing scratches and gouges.
Here’s a gratuitous detail shot of the bookshelf.
Hello, lover . . .
And here’s the shelf all lovely and refurbished.
Now, if all home improvement projects could be this cheap and easy . . .
Katy Wolk-Stanley
{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
Snazzy! And this on top of a LOOOOONG work day?
What can I say? I’m nuts!
Katy
Love the re-do! I’ll have to try Restore-A-Finish. And I love the book suggestions. 🙂
Have you ever used Restore a finish on kitchen cabinets? Do you use the neutral or try to match the color of the wood?
Our never ending can is “Neutral.”
Katy
I used this in my cabinets; they look amazing. I was planning on having them painted, but I’m happy with them now, so thank you! Love this product.
Good choice of books to put in the bookshelf! I found a couple that I have not read and wrote them down to check out at the library! What a cool bookshelf.
Many of these books I received as review copies, or were written by friends. Also, I like to have them to refer to. 😀
Katy
The Complete Tightwad Gazette!!! It doesn’t get much better than that book!
Ditto that on the Tightwad Gazette, but also a big woo-hoo for Total Money Makeover – both are my staple “go-to” book faves. Thanks for sharing that project – super!
The Total Money Makeover is the book that most changed my life. Gotta love that!
Oh, how I love The Tightwad Gazette, especially the Big Blue Book! At the moment mine’s in storage while we’re waiting for our new house to close. I may have to break down and order it from the library to get my annual fix. I read Better Off a couple of years ago and his story has really stuck with me.
Today, the smartest financial guy I know recommended “The Smartest Retirement Book You’ll Ever Read” by Daniel Solin. He said he bought it at an airport and read it cover to cover on his three hour flight. Says he didn’t learn much that he didn’t know, but that Solin has an incredible way of synthesizing a vast amount of information into a very readable format. Just thought I’d pass it along, since our tastes in texts seems quite similar.
I couldn’t agree with you more!
Katy
Love her! Her books are practically my bible.
It looks lovely but next time you deal with rusted metal, be sure to give it a rub with really fine steel wool (gets the loose rust off, which provides a smoother surface for your nifty pen trick.)
Yeah, that would have been a good idea. 😉
Katy
That looks amazing!!! I am always bothered by the rusted and crappy leg caps. Will have to pick up a gold pen for future projects.
A brilliant job. It looks great.
Though not something I choose to live with I nonetheless admire mid-century modern. The bookcase was a wonderful find and you did an excellent job making it beautiful again
Oh my word! I recognize that bookshelf! About 40 years ago my parents gave my siblings & I a set of the World Book Encyclopedia. That is the bookshelf where all of the various volumes, dictionaries & atlas went. Thanks for the wonderful memories – very nice job bringing it back to its former self.
I really like books at a 45 degree angle for some reason. And this bookshelf is the perfect size to store just a few books in my dining room.
Katy
Greetings!
I have the same bookshelf! I picked it up at a church sale two Summer’s ago for 5$. The Mr. has been hinting about getting rid of it; it’s not our style, it just filled a need. I’m too lazy to get up to check, but i think our legs are in better shape.
Nice re-do, as usual!
I can’t imagine that the legs could possibly be in better shape!
Katy
That’s the bookshelf of my childhood!! Brings back memories! That exact same bookshelf was graced with many volumes of our Children’s World Encyclopedia and stood in my brothers’ room. Not sure how the leg caps looked back then 😉 Thanks for the walk down memory lane 🙂
I bought the EXACT same bookshelf for my little girl’s room just this spring. It is darling, and perfect for my little girl to learn to love her books by getting them out and putting them away. I thought I got a great deal at $17 at my local antique mall – for $3 you got a steal. What made me so happy about it was that I was able to fill a need quickly, without months of searching, rescuing my daughter’s room from the sad overflowing plastic bin of books while not resorting to a souless, big box store, pressboard shelf. Win-win-win!
I’ll have to check out the legs after she wakes up from her nap – maybe ours could also benefit from a pedicure!
So funny how many people are writing that they either have or have had the same bookshelf!
Such a sturdy little creature.
Katy