Painting Bookshelves

Painting bookshelves isn’t difficult if you have the right tools and paint. Today I am sharing tips and tricks for getting the job done.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Dutch Boy. All opinions are 100% mine.

Several years ago, I painted our bookshelves black. The rest of the room is light, and although beautiful, the black always felt out of place.

The exterior of our home is “French Chateau” in style. I have slowly been trying to transform the interior to also reflect that style. Since many of the period homes used monochromatic color schemes, I wanted to paint the bookshelves blue.

The blue used on our bookshelves is Rustic Blue by Dutch Boy.

When I painted the bookshelves black, I used a paint sprayer. It was possibly a user error, but the sprayer did not provide a smooth finish. I also made the mistake of painting them with a matte finish and found it collected lots of dust.

This time around I painted them by hand, and it was very manageable as I broke the bookshelves into sections.

Supplies for Painting Bookshelves:

Platinum Plus Cabinet, Door & Trim Paint in Semi-Gloss
Drop Cloth
Painter’s Tape
Purdy 2.5″ XL Blue-Jay Brush
Purdy White Dove Mini Paint Roller and Frame
Paint Tray

How to Paint Bookshelves

When painting the shelves, I worked in sections as I mentioned before. It is best to begin with the brush and paint all the corners, edges, and trim. Follow up with the roller for the larger surfaces. I allowed 24 hours of dry time before I returned the books to the shelves.

Platinum Plus Cabinet, Door & Trim Paint

This paint was fantastic to work with. I envisioned several coats since I was painting over black, but I was surprised that one coat covered most sections.

Platinum Plus Cabinet, Door & Trim Paint is a water-based alkly enamel that goes on silky smooth. The result is a luxurious, glass-like finish.