To DIY For: A Perfect Painting Starter Project

I gotta give a big shoutout to Jan at Poppytalk for squelching some of my DIY fear this morning with her Weekend Project post.  If you're like me, you see others' DIY projects and think "Oh, that's soooo cool...and EASY!  I'm TOTALLY gonna try that."  Three months later...you still have the same white walls, or the same plain furniture, or the same ugly bedding.

Well, maybe all we DIY dysfunctionals need is a good starter project.

Poppytalk featured a paint-dipped furniture idea from House and Home that seems pretty darn simple and painless.  Using a thrift store chair and a coat rack from Urban Outfitters, Senior Design Editor Cameron McNeil used two contrasting paint colors to achieve an asymmetrical paint-dipped look.  Just cover the chosen piece in the base color, and when dry, tape off the area where your accent color will be.  They make a point to add that you should avoid painting the piece exactly half and half.  That way you'll be sure to get the desired "dipped" look we're going for.

I'm all for trying this out on a cheap thrift store find.  Being an Urban Outfitters fanatic, I happen to know that the Coming and Going Coat Rack pictured above will cost you about $70.  It just doesn't make sense to me to spend so much money just to throw a bit of paint on something.  So definitely try this out on some gently used items that just need a bit of sprucing up.  Have fun!