Before my main squeeze moved in with me last January, he was (I kid you not!) storing all his clothing in a series of cardboard boxes. One box for socks, another box for t-shirts... You get the idea. Given that his move-in date was in the midst of winter holidays, his big Christmas gift from me this year was a no-brainer. While I never claimed to be the world's classiest gal, I do draw the line at cardboard boxes!
I once again took my inspiration from Pinterest, this time from a staircase painted in gradation. (And how cute is that dog?!)
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Photo Courtesy: Real Simple
I've since learned that painting furniture in this lovely ombré is no new hat, but I was nevertheless excited to try it out myself. Here's a tutorial to get you started on your own noteworthy ombré project. This tutorial is geared towards painting your own dresser, but it could easily be adjusted to gradate your staircase, bookshelf, chest, or more. Let's get started!
What you'll need:
- a dresser in need of a serious revamp
- a color swatch
- paint (1 qrt), darkest color of swatch
- paint (1 qrt), white
- paint (1 qrt), white/neutral for rest of dresser
- plenty of containers for mixing paints (I used washed-out yogurt containers)
- paint roller and brushes
- paint tray
- optional: a screwdriver to remove hardware (metal dresser pulls, etc.)
- optional: painter's tape to cover pieces you don't want to paint
Step 1: Pull out all the drawers. Paint the rest of the dresser with the color of your choice. I used a color called "Toasted Grain" to give the dresser an overall gender-neutral feel, but I've seen other folks use whites, other neutrals, or the lightest color on the color swatch. The original color of my dresser was so dark, I painted the drawers Toasted Grain as well, which served nicely as a neutral, base color.
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Here's a quick tip: wrap a plastic grocery bag around your paint tray. When you're finished painting, simply throw out the plastic bag. This saves you time AND valuable H20 in the clean-up process!
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Step 2: Paint the bottom drawer straight from the can of paint with the darkest color. For reference, I picked up my quart of Emerald Ice (A37-7) at my local Ace Hardware. I covered each of my drawer nobs with painter's tape beforehand in order to keep them that Toasted Grain color.
Step 3: Pour a small amount of your darkest color into your first yogurt container, and add white until you reach the next step lighter on your color swatch. Since my color swatch had six colors and my dresser only had four drawers, I aimed for every other color on the swatch. Once you've perfected the color, test it out by rubbing a small amount onto the color swatch and wait a few minutes for it to dry. If it's a match, you're good to go! Paint the next drawer up this lighter color.
Step 3: Pour a small amount of your darkest color into your first yogurt container, and add white until you reach the next step lighter on your color swatch. Since my color swatch had six colors and my dresser only had four drawers, I aimed for every other color on the swatch. Once you've perfected the color, test it out by rubbing a small amount onto the color swatch and wait a few minutes for it to dry. If it's a match, you're good to go! Paint the next drawer up this lighter color.
Step 4: Repeat this same process with your last few drawers. I used four separate yogurt containers for the four colors, primarily because I knew I wanted to do two coats on each drawer. Wait for the paint to dry, then badda-bing badda-boom, you (or your beloved partner) have yourself a revamped dresser!
Now that you've got the basics down pat, here is some more inspiration to help you get your brainstorm on. What will you ombréfy?
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top left: thrifty inspirations | top middle: heather peterson design | top right: pure inspiration
middle left: apartment therapy | middle right: sisters not designers
bottom left: celebrity baby scoop | bottom right: martha stewart
