After moving most everything back into our house from our "almost" move, I realized a few things, well honestly, more than a few things either needed to go, or needed to be refreshed or redone. One of the things that needed to have a redo was an old set of shelving that we've had since Skylar was born. I actually bought the shelving to put in Skylar's nursery to allow more places to stash baby goods. The color of it then was an older brown color and about a year later I repainted it a darker brown and added an accent color of light blue to the top. Well, I liked the top, but I got to where I hated the brown.
I had taken advantage of the free paint samples that Ace Hardware did one summer a few years ago and got a turquoise as a sample. I wanted it to match some turquoise confetti I have had for awhile and you can see the color match on the top of the can. Every so often Lowe's and Home Depot will have paint sample giveaways and all you have to do is show up with the card, or the day of and claim your free sample.
You can see the older brown color here. Of course it wasn't bad, but needed a redo for sure.
I laid newspaper down on my floor and tested the color against the brown just to make sure it would cover it completely.
Then started painting.
I went ahead and did a light coat on the back as well, just to make everything more uniform in color. Although I only used one coat on the back, it looks a lot better than blue paint drips.
I finished the back, sides, and top first and let them sit to dry overnight before painting the front.
After the first coat I realized I loved the contrast of the brown selves against the blue color. I decided to leave them brown and paint the inside shelves blue.
I loved how it looked as I was painting the other side. I wish the other shelves had gotten a coat of brown paint as well, but I think they will look great blue.
Once the inside and the door dried overnight, I noticed the brown under the door and side panels needed another coat of paint. But it looks more aged and vintage if I just left them with one coat. I liked the way it made the side panels and door look as if it was worn. I had antiquing wax and used some in the corners, but since the brown paint underneath gave it the look I was wanting, I didn't have to use much at all.
You can see some of the antiquing wax here on the side.
After the paint completely dried, I stresses the sides and corners with some fine-grit sand paper to make it look even more antiqued.
And the finished shelves. It now sits in our laundry room/mud room and stores all of our essentials needed for random occasions. See our bowl of flashlights?
The blue on brown really gives it a nice contrast and pop of color.
Hopefully I can tackle the old door sometime this summer and really bring it all together.
Now to find the perfect door pull to really give it some character.
Eco-Tip: Furniture now days is made with mostly particle or paper board that's been pressed together. Finding an old piece of solid wood furniture that isn't outrageously priced is rare indeed. Consider checking out second-hand stores or thrift stores to find an older, well used piece and giving it new life with a coat of paint and/or a good sanding. You will be pleasantly surprised at how wonder it is to gift new means to an old piece that would have been otherwise forgotten. For this and other tips on going green visit, The Earth and Me: Go Green.