Psst – if you’ve found your way here from Three Word Wednesday or Coffee For Your Heart (or any other fabulous link up ) you can read my link up post Chosen here.So now that my dishwasher is doing the lions share of the hard work in the kitchen I’ve had the luxury of 1. not having to do the dishes YAAY ! and 2. of being able to do a few little projects around the house – YAAY again ! The timing is kind of perfect because last weeks torrential rain has stopped and all of a sudden it’s spring round these parts.

So this is just an itty bitty bit of a painting project, but one Ive been wanting to try for a while now that involves my fondness for a cane basket or two. There are fewer thing’s handier than a sturdy cane basket and I’ve a couple that have been with me many a long year and have held everything from toys to dirty laundry, to clean laundry, to recycling and fire wood. They’ve worked hard – they deserve a makeover.

Now have you noticed around the shops lately, baskets, candlesticks, vases, stools, table legs etc that have been given the “just dipped it in a can of paint” look. Well I’m a fan – you get the best of both worlds – a bit of colour as well as the warm natural look of the cane, rattan or wood. So thats where my poor old unsuspecting baskets and a favourite pair of candlesticks come into the picture.

This is what I started with – looking tired and overworked.

Heres a bit of preview of what I ended up with.

 As a by the by,  with Ken being a painter and decorator in his former life we have enough cans of paint in our garage to sink the proverbial battle ship – so much so that I’ve vowed to not buy another can of paint for any project around the house – ever. If I can’t mix the colour from what we already have – then we wont be having it.

So for this project I just used low sheen acrylic paint (Antique White USA)  for the white basket and the candlesticks and the orange colour I mixed from two cans of gloss enamel – not my first choice, I much prefer water based paints, but it’s what we had so decision made. I had red and yellow so I used mostly yellow and mixed in a bit of red to make a burnt orange – looks a little redder in the photos than what it really is. The colour inspiration was from my garden and some vintage wallpaper I have framed.

So I  used masking tape to mark off the line and brushed  on two coats. If I was buying paint for this project I would have bought spray paint – it gets into the weave of the basket so much easier. Even with the masking tape, the texture and weave of the baskets meant that the paint still bled over the lines a bit so it was hard to get a really crisp line. Frustrating because I do like lines to be straight and crisp so I used a stanley knife afterwards to remove the worst of the over run.

The candlesticks  I literally dipped into the 10 litre paint tin and just let all the excess drip off.

The orange basket – too fancy now for firewood.

And the white one is sitting centre stage  on my dining room table – here with a few friends.

And here on an ordinary Wednesday when I’m making afternoon tea for the kids.To be perfectly honest the jury is still out for me on weather it was a complete success or not – I really like the candlesticks but not 100%  sure about the orange colour on the basket – a bit redder than I would have liked and its hard to know where to put the line – kind of like when your trimming a hedge and you don’t know where to stop. I don’t think they look worse which is always a plus. So therein is the reason I like fun little projects like these – they are not major design statements that set the whole tone of the house – it’s not a $2000 couch that I have to live with for the next ten years and while I try to get it right, it’s not something to worry about if I get it wrong. It’s just a basket that I can paint over in a week if I decide I don’t like it.

So the moral of the post is – if you’ve got an inkling with the change in season’s to change thing’s up around the house – just go for it. A splash of colour can do the soul good. And if your not overly confident with this sort of thing, my best advice for what it’s worth is:

1. Start small and work your way up – if it doesn’t work theres no great loss. Notice I didn’t just launch in and “dip” all the legs of my dining rooms chairs –  now that’s when the orange colour might really have been a mistake – yes still fixable but annoying and time consuming. So start with a basket, a pot, a picture frame and go from there. You learn something every time and you build your confidence – all good.

2. Keep a stash – knowing I always want to be doing a project at the drop of a hat I keep a little stash of various bits and bobs handy for small projects – paints and various size brushes , an old towel, hammer, nails, staple gun, picture hooks, masking tape, super glue, gap filler – for when you put the hook in the wrong place and leave a hole in the wall, plastic containers from food packaging that are good as paint pots that you can throw away etc.  My stash is in a kitchen cupboard because the garage is downstairs and a pain to find things in. I find if I keep the stuff I need close by it wont be such a big deal to start a project and get thing put away after.

3. Last one –  don’t try and do 14 new projects in one weekend – just do one. Be inspired by your own home – what’s crying out for a freshen up or a bit of colour, what colour do you just love at the moment – (paint sample pots are a great way to go if you don’t have the dubious honour of having a garage full of paint) Your list may be long (mine always is) but just choose one small thing and get the ball rolling.

A quick easy paint project is a great way to welcome in spring (or fall depending on where these words find you.) Works for me.

And if you want to know any more about why I love a quick and easy project this post will fill you in.

For some more inspiration on dipping things have a scroll through my Pinterest board below.

https://www.pinterest.com/kbtcross/dipped/

Got a minute – you can read my latest Women Connect post here

Thanks for reading and God Bless xx

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