I don’t know why, but I’ve been intimidated about tackling even the simplest DIY project around the house, and there are a few I’ve been contemplating for YEARS. Two weekends ago I decided to finally go for it, and started working on redoing two small projects, a wooden shelf in the bathroom, and a wooden shoeshine box. I didn’t have a clear idea for either of them, but I wanted each to be fun and colourful.

The shelf started out as an ugly dark green, and the shoeshine box started out as a beaten up object covered in greasy black polish. Neither were in great shape so I didn’t want to spend much money on the redo. I chose acrylic paint rather than latex to save money, and it seems to have worked out just fine.

I regret not taking “before” photos of these two objects, but at the time I didn’t really care about sharing a before and after comparison. I painted many coats of white paint on each, and then had to decide what to do. I made up the designs as I went, using green painters tape to create the lines. There was a bit of clean up after I removed all of the tape, in areas where the paint snuck under.

Both pieces reside in our bathroom as organizers, and they are a welcome splash of colour to the decor. Now I’m considering my next DIY upcycling project…