Farmhouse Bookends and Architectural Salvage

When I spotted this pair of wood bookends at the thrift store, I grabbed them right away. They were just heavy enough to scream “well-made” to me, and were blank slates for an upcycling idea. I envisioned them paired with architectural salvage to create some farmhouse bookends.

When I brought them home from the thrift store, I removed the tape and was even more pleased. Outside of some leftover felt bits, they were in great condition and primed for a makeover.

And yes, I’ve upcycled other plain wooden bookends from the thrift store before! But I went in a VERY different direction with that pair…

But back to these! I took measurements of the wood bookends and found a pair of wood finials that would fit perfectly!

Now I just needed to marry them together to create the vintage farmhouse decor of my dreams!

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Transforming the Wood Bookends into Vintage Farmhouse Decor

Not that it really matters, but these wood finials were actually half finials (I found them on Etsy, if you were curious). But that worked in my favor as they fit on my wood bookends even better.

Anyway…

First, I roughed up the surface of the wood bookends with 80-grit sandpaper and drilled a pilot hole through the underside of each one. They were already a little scratched up here and there, as you may have noticed!

Then, I chose one of my favorite paint colors for their makeover.

You may have seen me use this paint before! First on my cork board project and again as part of a faux finish project that looked like oxidized copper.

The farmhouse bookends received two coats of Behr “In the Moment”. When the paint had dried, I distressed them with 220-grit sandpaper.

After I wiped away the sanding dust, I buffed on clear wax to protect the distressed finish. I used my Annie Sloan wax, but there are lots of other (cheaper) versions out there.

The farmhouse bookends “cured” overnight (to allow the wax to harden a bit), and then I drilled screws up from the bottom into the wood finials.

I didn’t pre-drill pilot holes into the finials because the older wood was soft enough to take in the screws without a fight.

One last step! To help the farmhouse bookends do their job well, I glued on some non-skid shelf liner to the underside of each one. The non-skid shelf liner also covered up the screw heads to protect the surface underneath the bookends, so it’s a double-duty material!

Farmhouse Bookends with Architectural Salvage

And that was it! The farmhouse bookends were done and were ready to be used.

Pretty easy and I simply love the end result- I adore how the dusty green color pops against the chippy white paint on the wooden finials.

Not too shabby for a pair of wood bookends that cost me $2.89, eh?

I’m definitely curious- what would you have used to transform these bookends? I think there are probably all sorts of options.

If you enjoyed this upcycling idea for vintage farmhouse decor, then you’ll also love this shabby chic wall decor that I made with a vintage window frame!

Craft on!

S

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