From hutch-like thing to bookshelf

My friend Karen and her husband have a lot of books. Like...three GIANT totes full, sitting in their garage from when they moved. They also have a bunch of furniture in the garage that they hadn't put to use yet or were considering getting rid of, but Karen decided she wanted this entertainment center / hutch / thingie to go to work for her...as a bookshelf.

The piece is pretty dated looking. Glass doors with hummingbirds and the tone of the stain do not fit into Karen's modern, dark wood style.

The doors went to Goodwill. Someone will have fun with them. :)

I sanded it, cleaned it and primed it. Then she picked out a dark gray color and had me paint it...but it just wasn't dark enough. So I came up with a solution. Rather than repaint the whole thing we got a can of black spray paint and I painted the outside, leaving the inside the dark gray.

The shelf spacing in the middle needs to be renegotiated (which is why they aren't in the photo)and she wants an extra shelf where the TV would normally go but sadly didn't have the tools for me to tackle that part of the project yet. But this is perfect as a bookshelf! That top shelf that looks really short? Paperbacks fit in there like it was made for them. Also, the color is a vast improvement, don't you think?