Two Easy, Colourful DIYs for Your Home

The flowers are starting to poke through the dirt in our gardens, birds are chirping, robins and cardinals are hopping around the grass, and the sun is shining. I’m craving to bring some of the springtime energy into our house and adding some pops of colour throughout our space. Today, I’m excited to share two easy DIYs that are sure to bring a smile to your face. I love that these easy projects are renter-friendly and are completely reversible. The benefit of adding a small colour feature to your space is that it’s really simple to paint back over if you ever get tired of it or need to paint over it. Okay, let’s get to it!

The Door

Painting a door is actually such a simple, high-impact project. Whether you’re painting an interior-exterior door or an interior door, this project is sure to elevate your space and add some warmth and interest to your entryway or room. If you’re painting an exterior door (like a front door), ensure you use exterior paint. I used Behr Marquee Exterior in Satin Finish for this door. I love that the satin finish offers a slight sheen, but unlike a high gloss paint, it’s not shiny.

If you want to make this project even more impactful, paint both sides of your door. This is especially great if you otherwise have a white or neutral entryway because it’ll add a fun feature to your foyer. I love this grey-blue especially with our new matte black hardware and against our white entryway! It looks amazing whether the door is open or closed and the colour and hardware make the entire door and entryway look more modern!

How-To

Remove the hardware of the door if you’re replacing it, otherwise, use painter’s tape to tape off all the hardware.
Using wood filler, fill any holes, let dry. Using an orbital sander or sandpaper block, sand down your door. The purpose of this is to roughen up the surface. Pay extra attention to any rough parts, i.e. around the handles and hardware and anywhere that you filled in with wood filler.
Clean off the surface well with an all-purpose cleaner and let the door dry completely.
Using a brush, especially if your door has any trim or details, paint your door. If your door doesn’t have any trim, you can use a small roller and brush along the edges and hardware.

Details

Paint colour: Athabasca by Benjamin Moore

Paint: Behr Marquee Exterior in Satin Finish

Paint Brush: 2 1/2 inch angled brush

Black Hardware

Open Shelving

If you’ve seen our Home Tour videos, you’ll know that our kitchen has a lot of orange-toned wood and while we aren’t planning on doing very much to the kitchen, I saw an image in House and Home Magazine of these open cupboards and the backs were painted hot pink. It stopped me dead in my tracks and I instantly thought that adding colour to the backs of our open shelves would look so fun and interesting!

This DIY would look incredible in so many different ways. You could use this same technique in the back of a bookcase or cabinet. In terms of choosing a colour, sometimes it’s tricky to choose the right bright or more intense colour. If you’re wanting to draw attention away from something, use a complimentary colour. For example, I wanted to downplay the orange tones in the wood, so complementary colours would be reds, yellows, oranges, peaches, and pinks. If we wanted to amplify or play-up the orange wood, we’d go with a contrasting colour like green, blue, purple, grey. We went with pink because it’s a complimentary colour.

How-To

Clear off the area that you’re painting. Use an all-purpose cleaner, wipe down the walls and shelves. Let dry.
Use painter’s tape to tape the shelves around the surface that you’re painting.
Paint 2-3 coats to achieve full coverage. Remove the tape while the paint is still slightly wet for the cleanest lines and removal.
Style your shelves. I try to group things in sets of three and use items that are different heights to add depth and dimension to your shelves. I also try to group similar colour tones together and instead of lining books up vertically, stack a few together in a few different spots.