DIY: Ombre side table

 

When it comes to bringing trends into the home, I personally think it's a good idea to stick to accessories. That way, when the trend changes, you're not out too much cash when you go to change them. Furniture is obviously way bigger of an investment, so I think classic pieces are best.

When you're re-purposing something you already have though, I say go crazy!

We had this old hamper that belonged to my dad way back when that we've been using to store blankets within easy reach of our basement sofa. What it provided in functionality, it lacked in aesthetics. I was all set to donate it a few weeks ago when I thought that it might be a good candidate for some trendy decor styles.

I do love ombre (see here for a culinary interpretation) and because I wasn't too attached to this piece, if I made a total mess of it, it wouldn't be the end of the world. I'd seen variations of this technique online before, and I had some extra spray paint from the lamp I redid a few weeks back, so I thought I'd give it a shot. 

To start off, I sprayed the entire thing in a white primer. Be sure to do all your spray painting in a really well ventilated area because it is pretty stinky (and likely terrible for you). Also, don't do what I did and forget to protect your patio stones. Whoops! Who doesn't love a little blue splatter on their patio, though, right!

Here's a tip: I wanted to cover the bottom of the hamper just so we wouldn't be able to see the brown at all, and because it had little legs, I did that end first. It didn't need as much coverage (just enough to hide the brown), so once the bottom was spayed, I could flip it right-side up for the rest of the project. If I had waited to do the bottom last, I'd have had to wait for the whole thing to dry before I could flip it upside down. Depending on the type of furniture you're doing, you have to give thought to what parts of the furniture you want to end up a particular colour and plan accordingly. You paint with the lightest colours first.

Once the whole thing was primed, I started with the colour. I casually mapped out in advance where I wanted the three colours to be, and starting with white, I went back and forth lightly spraying until the whole top was done. Next I started using my mid-tone blue and very lightly went back and forth. Luckily, the over spray provided the nice gradual effect I wanted, and the ombre just sort of happened.

Mistakes were made on this project! Below is an image of where I sprayed the middle colour too high up onto the white portion. No biggie. I got out the white spray paint and went over it again.

This is a really forgiving project because you can just keep going over it again and again until you get the look you want.

For the bottom colour, I used a darker shade of blue, but I have to say that it wasn't all that different from the mid-tone I chose. I just did a few more coats until I was happy.

I planned to do this when I knew we were going to have a few consecutive days of good weather because I would highly recommend letting it dry outside for a while. It takes a few days to dry completely and to lose the smell.

I'm happy with how this turned out. It was a cheap and easy project that if I grow tired of, I can easily paint over and try something different. Now it's back in the basement storing blankets again.