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Quick Midcentury Bookcase Makeover: Replacing Sliding Doors

November 8, 2016 by Cassie 20 Comments

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Happy Election Day!  I choose not to get political on my blog at all, but I am proud to say I will be exercising my right to vote today and I hope you will, too.  And once I return from the polls, it’ll be time to photograph Emmy’s new room for the One Room Challenge reveal this week.  I can’t believe 6 weeks have come and gone already.  I am really happy with what we’ve accomplished in this time.  Last week I showed you a piece that wasn’t in the original plan, but was perfect for some much needed storage.  Today I’m going to talk about it in a little more detail and share a quick midcentury bookcase makeover with you.Midcentury Bookcase with New DoorsPinWhen I first acquired this little bookcase, it had glass doors and I envisioned it as a swanky bar cabinet; Sarah and I styled it as such this past Spring at Sweet Clover.  However, one day while we were moving it, we lifted from the top which was a little loose, unbeknownst to us, and the doors came tumbling out and shattered on the concrete barn floor.  Oops!

I took the piece home and left it in my garage where I anticipated doing something fun with it one day. While I was putting Emmy’s room together realized it might be the perfect little size for the bedroom, and brought it in to test it out.  Pardon the cruddy phone photo, but it’s the only “before” I could find!
mcm-bookcase-beforePin

It was in fact the perfect dimensions, but I ended up moving it to the opposite wall after this photo was taken. I know my daughter though, and I knew that this bookcase would become a but of a catchall and would not stay so neat and easy on the eye.  I decided to create new doors.

I measured the width of the sliding door tracks to see what thickness of plywood I would need.  I then measured the height and width of the bookcase opening, and added 1/2″ to the height to allow room for the doors to fit in the tracks, which are grooved into the cabinet.

I headed to the store to grab the plywood, but low and behold, I had an epiphany when I arrived.  The plan was to get plywood and prime it and paint it a glossy white.  However, in with the plywood, was white board, or dry erase board, white and shiny and with a function I knew Emmy would love.  I grabbed the whiteboard and took it to the cutting center to have the store cut it for me.

When I arrived home, I popped the doors into the sliding track grooves and was thrilled that they fit!  There is a slight angle to one of the doors, and it isn’t perfect, but it’s good enough for us.Sliding TracksPinOnce the doors were added, we knew we would need some sort of handle for Emmy to be able to slide the doors.  We looked online and Emmy fell in love with these knobs from Land of Nod.  But I also noticed that Hobby Lobby was having one of their sales, so before committing to those, I decided to take a trip to my nearest location.

I found these awesome gold cylindrical mercury glass style knobs and felt they had a similar modern feel and would work well on this bookcase.Mercury Glass Gold KnobPinLuckily, Emmy approved of my choice.  I found the center along the outside edge of each panel and drilled a hole about 2″ in for the new hardware.  whiteboard-as-cabinet-doorPinNow all of the cluttered messes can easily be hidden from my eyes behind the new sliding doors.

midcentury-bookcase-with-added-doorsPinI will be back tomorrow or Thursday to share the final reveal of this space.  I can’t wait to take a look back at where we started and see how far we’ve come!

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Filed Under: Emmy's Room, furniture transformations, making our home, Midcentury, One Room Challenge

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Comments

  1. Anita says

    November 8, 2016 at 7:39 am

    Oh Cassie, I love that!!! I would never have thought of doing that with the doors. I have the exact, same cabinet too! My grandmother had one on each side in her dining room, and gave me one, and a cousin the other. I broke my glass as well, but just had a piece cut at a glass place here. And I actually don’t even use it with the doors on. Go figure.

    That rug and the straw purses!!!

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      November 9, 2016 at 5:41 pm

      oh man!!!! thank you so much! 🙂
      and the purse was thrifted this past weekend for $2!!!!!

      Reply
  2. Shelley | Crazy Wonderful says

    November 8, 2016 at 8:02 am

    What a great solution! And, dry erase?!!! That’s like that awesome bonus when you find out the dress you’re trying on has pockets! Score!!!

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      November 9, 2016 at 5:40 pm

      thank you so much, shelley! haha- your comment is awesome!

      Reply
  3. Brynne | The Gathered Home says

    November 8, 2016 at 8:43 am

    Brilliant! And those knobs are just perfect – I think I’ll have to go snag some now and find a use for them later! 🙂

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      November 9, 2016 at 5:40 pm

      aren’t they so fun?!?! i loved the shape and GOLD.

      Reply
  4. Kelly elko says

    November 8, 2016 at 8:47 am

    Brilliant! I was just at HD and noticed the dry erase boards too! Got me thinking!!

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      November 9, 2016 at 5:40 pm

      yes! it is awesome!

      Reply
  5. Julia@Cuckoo4Design says

    November 8, 2016 at 10:49 am

    This is perfect. Love how it looks with the doors and I agree that doors are always a better solution for kiddos. That’s also the reason why I’m currently putting on doors on all my basement IKEA storage. I don’t have the time to worry about styles shelves down there. #shovingandclosingthedoor 😉

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      November 9, 2016 at 5:39 pm

      yes it’s so nice to #hidethecrap

      Reply
  6. Jeanne says

    November 8, 2016 at 11:08 am

    Dry erase boards…brilliant! Looks great too!

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      November 9, 2016 at 5:39 pm

      thank you, jeanne!

      Reply
  7. Heidi @ Decor & More says

    November 8, 2016 at 12:30 pm

    LOVE this idea… it looks awesome and I know Emmy will enjoy a little dry erase “canvas” 🙂
    xo Heidi

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      November 9, 2016 at 5:38 pm

      she already is! 🙂 thank you!

      Reply
  8. Dee at the Carlton says

    November 8, 2016 at 12:57 pm

    What a fabulous make over – it looks modern & perfect for storage for your daughter ….

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      November 9, 2016 at 5:38 pm

      thank you so much, dee!

      Reply
  9. Tania says

    November 8, 2016 at 9:16 pm

    Well that sucks that the glass doors got broken but it sure looks cute in her room!

    Tania

    Reply
    • Cassie says

      November 9, 2016 at 5:37 pm

      thank you, tania!

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Bohemian Eclectic Girls Bedroom: Our First One Room Challenge Reveal - Cassie Bustamante says:
    November 11, 2016 at 7:37 pm

    […] her room.  The straw tote was a $2 flea market find this past weekend.  I shared how I upcycled this bookcase with broken doors yesterday, replacing what was once glass with dry erase.  Emmy is thrilled to […]

    Reply
  2. Eclectic Christmas Tour Part 1 - Cassie Bustamante says:
    December 6, 2016 at 5:00 am

    […] really closely at the photo below, perhaps you can spot her Christmas touches? My favorite is her dry erase cabinet… She went to town with it, and I just love it!  Her little “Jesus Christ was […]

    Reply

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Hi, I’m Cassie!

I believe that you don't have to spend a lot of money to live a beautiful life and be your best self.  Here you will find budget friendly ideas to live happily, healthily, sustainably, and most importantly authentically.  We all get one chance at this life, and this ordinary girl plans to make hers extraordinary. How about you? Read more...
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Hi! I'm Cassie.

Mother, wife, shop owner, blogger, writer, incurable diy-er, furniture painter, coffee and wine drinker, friend. Seeking happiness and passing it on. Read More…

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