Making a Hole Disappear

I'm still on vacation which I guess is a bit of a stretch since it's only a vacation from this blog. We have been tackling one project after another around here. Since I'm not blogging, it's only fair to show you the fruits of our labors.

When we bought this house we inherited a hole in the wall. --literally. We guessed the previous owners had installed an aquarium which would be visible from both the entry on one side and the den on the opposite side.

We preferred the original design of the house with a full wall at the entry and a built in bookcase on the den side. But how do we put back what was destroyed?
.
Enter remodeler extraordinaire, Greg.

I was afraid we were going to have to tear down the bookcase and rebuild it since I saw no way to repair the huge gaping hole right in the middle of the bookcase. Not only did he fix it better than new, you can't even tell it was even repaired.
.
Follow the photo history and see for yourself.



I know it's not much to see. I thought I'd at least show you the way Greg braced the underside so he could rebuild the wall on one side and the bookcase on the other. I am really proud of the way it turned out.

Tank supervising the final patch job. He gave us his paw of approval.

The wall is sealed and textured. This is the first coat of paint. At first, I planned to repaint it white, the way it was originally, but you know me. Must have color. So I went with a soft tan that had a hint of yellow for warmth. It's a very soothing color in both daylight and incandescent light. I wanted visitors to feel warm and cozy when they entered our home.

I think we accomplished that.



Believe it or not this seemed the more difficult project of the two. While the bookcase was more structurally challenging, getting the painted texture to match on the opposite wall really tested my abilities. I'm pleased with it though, as I am with the color. I chose Oat Straw made by Behr Paint.

By the way, if you've got a paint job in your future, I highly recommend Behr. I love the one coat coverage. This paint is excellent!
.
PS The chair and desk are two of my previous projects. I bought them both for less than $50 and refinished them back to their original glory.


On to the other side...the dreaded bookcase.
.

This is what we started with. A hole. A big hole. Do we tear it down completely or can it be saved? After Greg scraped away the rough edges to see what he had to work with, he felt certain he could restore it with a little ingenuity and magic.

I supplied the magic. Imagine me, dancing naked around a fire chanting for seamless corner joints and a streakless paint job.

Umm, on second thought. let's not go there. I don't want you to have nightmares.



It's starting to look like its old self again. I have a bookcase once more.


Patched, primed and painted. Now we wait for it to dry to a hard finish.



Here's the finished bookcase. Can you tell it ever had a hole smack in the middle of it?

.

This was a real work in progress with lots of stops and starts in between. People who have seen the before and after in the flesh can't believe it.

.

Heh...neither can I, and I was there. LOL.

.

I am not a very handy person. And Greg can tell you some embarrassing stories about me and my insane klutziness. But I am a faithful go-fer monkey and try to learn what I can when I watch him work. Some of this stuff is a little complex, but once you see a project down to its skeleton you have a much better understanding on how things work.

.

I always enjoy the projects we do together. I feel so inspired. The next time I do another project post, I'll show you a project I normally do on my own. Refinishing furniture.

.

Copyright © 2009 Maria Zannini -- http://mariazannini.blogspot.com/.