Micro Makeover: Brighten Up Your Home With These Quick and Easy Paint Projects

There’s no doubt that brighter days are ahead – seasonally and metaphorically! But until they arrive, we’re bringing you some much needed fun and fresh ideas to help you brighten your home.

Whether your WFH zone is due a desk makeover, or that blank wall you’ve been staring at all lockdown is crying out for colour, or you just really want to show off your new shelving, check out these quick and easy Micro Makeovers!

How can you brighten up your home? Try these 3 quick and easy paint projects:

Paint a feature arch – 1 hour

We love a feature wall. They’re an easy way to add colour and style to any space. And this year, there’s a new wave of feature wall ideas for you to embrace. Curved shapes are one of the top interior design trends this year and a fresh take on statement wall ideas.

Painting a feature arch in contrasting colours is the perfect way to add depth to a blank wall. With Gentle Fawn as the canvas, we chose the bold and striking Emerald Glade for the arch.

Here’s what you need to do:
 

• For the arch, chalk a weighted length of string and 'ping' it against the wall to mark   the vertical sides.
  
  
• Apply masking tape along the lines.
  
  
• Measure halfway across the top of the arch, between the taped lines.
  
  
• Cut a length of string and pin one end to this midpoint.
  
  
• Tie a pencil to the other end where it meets your masking tape. Keeping the string taut, draw a curve from one tape to the other, forming the top of the arch.
  
  
• Paint along the top of the arch freehand, and use a roller to fill in the rest.
   

Or watch this video to learn how to paint an arch in our Colour of the Year 2021, Brave Ground^TM.

Style your shelving – 3 hours

Shelving can be just as pretty as it is practical. And there’s no easier and quicker way to brighten up your home than with some beautiful shelves. There are lots of shelf painting ideas, but to give your place a real lift, why not try the ombre effect with three coordinating hues of yellow?

For our shelves, we chose the slightly darker Golden Sands for the centre shelf to draw the eye, a mid-tone of Almond Butter for the shelves above and below it, and finally, the paler Cobble Cove for the outer shelves.

Give your desk a makeover – 2 hours

If your workspace needs an upgrade, painting a desk probably isn’t the first idea that comes to mind. But you’d be surprised at what a lick of paint can do. Painting a desk in a bold colour, such as Teal Velvet, not only looks great against the Blush Pink walls, it can supercharge studying or add WOW to your workday!

And that’s not the best bit. If you only paint the top of the desk, it’ll be an even speedier project, and you can use up any leftover paint you already have at home.