Darn, maybe someone can name the paint I used on our built-in's and kitchen...It's from SW, and I think it has "Dover" in the name.

What do you not want to be sticky? The wood putty or shelves? lol.

I'm not familiar with wood putty, but make sure the shelves are sanded baby bottom smoothe! Nothing worse than dusting a shelf that wasn't quite sanded properly.

Use semi-gloss, and let the paint cure longer than recommended.

Thanks Oakley. LOL, I don't want the shelves to be sticky. My mom painted a couple pieces of furniture and for whatever reason the finish was sticky. Not sure what she did wrong but I want to make sure I don't replicate that mistake! How long did yours cure for? Do you like the semi'gloss finish?

There is a color called Dover White, is that what you are thinking of oakley? I think the ProClassic Alkyd Enamel series might be a good choice for bookshelves. To my understanding, stickiness comes from not waiting the prescribed time between coats. It will take lots of patience, but also, do not load your shelves up for a few days. It takes awhile for paint to cure -after it's dry. But if you put stuff on them before they cure, you will get little indents and other marks.

If it isn't cured and you put books and such on the shelves, they will stick and ruin the books.

An oil based paint will give you a more durable finish as will a semigloss. Make sure you sand well. Then clean off all the dust. Some will use a tack cloth, but I can't stand the feel of them. So I use paper towels and denatured alcohol which cuts any grease as well.

Prime first....and expect that coat to really soak into the wood. Then wait, as suggested, even longer than recommended. You want that good and dry.

Then paint your color coat...wait again longer than recommended....and then you may need a 2nd coat.

Plan on this taking awhile as you have a LOT of shelves to do.

If the shelves are removable, you want to take them out and do them outside of the unit...paint the unit separately. And try not to get paint on the inside edges of the shelves as it may add too much thickness and make them harder to slide into place.

In fact you have so many shelves to do, you may want to investigate a paint sprayer...it will go much faster.

May the force be with you!

Sticky can sometimes be from not letting the paint cure long enough. I bought some paint for BM that cures to a very hard durable finish, but it does it in about a week, and before that it's tacky and you can put finger prints in it. It also says to wait 12-24 hours between coats.

I also have used the Low VOC Acrylic from SW. That is some neat stuff, no smell and cleans up really well. Also needs a bit more time to fully cure. I used in on the trim, doors and wainscoting in the entry way that gets a lot of abuse. Very happy with the durability. I think this was the easiest to use paint I've ever come across. Was painting a dark brown using a brush (over a mustard yellow) and it covered wonderfully and self leveled nicely. I was told it is used a lot in high traffic commercial applications.

Their pre-catalized Epoxy paint also dries to a very durable finish. I use it on the ceiling where I need to scrub (from having wood heat). Nothing sticks to it once cured, including more paint. Directions say if you wait more than 72 hours, you have to sand before applying a second coat. Both of those aren't cheap paint though, think they retail for near $100 a gallon.