DIY – How to make pots look like expensive stone planters!

Every time I walked through the Garden section of Bunnings, I would dream about concrete/stone planters instead of the giant ugly plastic pots in my alfresco. That is when I thought of giving them a makeover.. What if I could give my existing sad plastic pots a new life as funky fake stone planters?

The pots were old and scuffed, but as they were in sound shape I thought it was a great idea to give them a new life versus buying new and expensive pots.




I remembered I had some Dulux Design Stone Paint lying around from our house painting back in February. So, thought it would be just right for the makeover. Do not have the Design stone paint? Fret not. I have jotted down steps that you can use to recreate the look with items that are readily available.

So, here is how I refreshed the pots.

Supplies needed:

• A plastic pot to upcycle
• Sanding block/ Sandpaper
• Dust Mask for protection 
• Paint brush
• Container for mixing paint
• Disposable rubber gloves to protect hands
• Drop Sheet/Newspaper for protecting the floor
• Dulux Design Stone Paint
  OR
  Grey paint (or you can mix White and Black paint) - You could use regular wall paint.
  If using regular paint, you will need the following additional items to recreate the effect:
• Plastic bag for shading 
• Plaster of Paris

Directions:

1. Place the drop sheet on the floor, and start with sanding the pot with a sanding block or sandpaper. Wear a dust mask to minimize intake.
   
   
2. Wipe dust away thoroughly with a piece of cloth.
3. Take the paint out in a disposable container. If mixing colors to make paint, then do that here.
4. I straight away used the Dulux Design Stone Paint on the pot using a criss-cross pattern to get the realistic look.
   
   
   
   If using regular paint,  give the pot one coat of Grey paint. Work in criss-cross motion to get some texture. Don’t forget to do the internal ring of the pot too.
5. For the stone look, mix Plaster of Paris powder in one batch of paint and slap on the pot. Make sure you work with batches. Get details on this procedure in my DIY Copper Patina wall tutorial.
6. Use a plastic bag to scrunch out a lighter shade of grey to get patches like concrete. 

Large real stone/concrete planters retail for more than $150, so I’m thrilled that these ‘stone painted’ pots look close enough to the real thing! Just look at the transformation:

Love,
Divya

DIY Color Swatch Art

The wall in front of my table in the craft room had been blank and drab forever. My initial plan was to add a pegboard but husband had a fit at the number of holes we would be making in the wall in the process. Check out the rest of my Craft Room/Study here.

While watching the Fixer Upper series, I noticed some Color Swatch Art in one of the styled houses and literally fell in love with the idea. I knew that this would be the perfect pop of inspiration I needed on my wall, also adding color to the space.


The same day, we were off to Spotlight to get some canvases for the purpose. I grabbed 8 of the 11"x14" ones for 2$ each. (SCORE!) Just look at the transformation!

Supplies needed: 

• 11"x14" canvas - 8
  (Technically, the number and the size of the canvas would depend on the size of the wall you would like to cover with this project)
• Acrylic Paint
  (In the colors you would like to paint, or you could mix up colors to make new ones, totally up to you!)
• Alphabet Stencils 
• Mod Podge
• Pencil
• Ruler 
• Eraser

Directions:

1. I started with creating an outline for the color swatch with a pencil and a ruler. I wanted a 1 cm border around three sides, just because I think that looked better. My measurements of the square hence, turned out to be 25.5cm x 25.5cm. I created these on all the canvases as a guide for the paint.
    
   
2. Then I decided on the color palette I wanted to paint, and started to fill in the squares with the decided colors. I decided on the following shades: Crimson Red, Cadmium Yellow, Cobalt Blue, and made some pastel and neutral shades: Jade Green, Lilac Purple, Light Pink, Steel Grey and a Bright Orange. The painting need not be perfect, so I slapped the paint on!
   
   
   
   
   
3. Once this was complete, I stenciled out the color names on the bottom of each swatch canvas with pencil. I could have spelled out the exact color, but I only wanted to replicate the look and feel of a swatch, so kept it super simple!
   
   
   
4. With black paint I filled in these words. This was the most time consuming and tiring part of the entire project since this needed to be precise. You could use other mediums to do this, but I wanted to paint.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. Once everything was dried up, I mod podged all the canvases to seal and finish them up. This gave them a professional look and removed any major inconsistencies in paint color.
   
   
   

   

Two more to finish, and that's it, all done and ready to hang... love them to pieces! We used 3M Picture strips to hang these canvases. Trying to figure out the arrangement here:

And this is what the final arrangement looks like! They add such a fun vibe to the room and lots of pops of colors - perfect accompaniment to my doodle wall!

Hope these have inspired you to make something fun and colorful for your home! 

Xoxo

Divya

Faux Copper Patina Wall - DIY

I love textured walls, they add so much character and natural depth to the room. When we decided to paint a feature wall in the living room (now renamed as the "Coffee room"), I knew I wanted a copper patina effect on the wall - more patina, less copper.

So, having a genuine copper patina “ verdigris” would be mind blowing, but that would also burn a hole in my pocket. So, the artsy way it was. Excited with a huge canvas, I decided on the following supplies list.

For this project, you’ll need this stuff:

Supplies 

• "Bluish-Green" paint to mimic patina - I used the Dublin Jack from Berger - Inspirations paint since I wanted it more on the side of green than blue
• Brown paint to mimic copper/rust - I used the Pookie Bear brown from Berger - Inspirations paint
• Some brushes for blending
• Plastic bag 
• Craft sponge (optional, but I found it to be extremely helpful)
• White wall paint - I used the Casper White Quarter from Dulux which I used to paint my entire house
• Plaster of Paris (optional)
• Spatula (if using Plaster of Paris)
• Methylated spirit (optional) - I used this one from Bunnings

Basic Technique

A basic faux copper patina research will show you that it requires a gorgeous blend of the brown and bluish-green. So, I began with my primed and painted white wall and masked off the required section.

I knew I wanted darker edges, so I went ahead and painted the edges of the walls with the Pookie Bear brown, and some random parts in the middle to finish off the leftover paint in my brush.

Next, I wanted to get some texture on the wall. For that, we mixed some Plaster of Paris (POP) in the Dublin Jack paint itself. I know it sounds insane, but trust me, it works! That gave me a little more drying time as well. With a spatula, I placed this mix on the wall. When using this technique, it is best to work with little batches at a time. Here is how it looks after the wall was covered. I know, crazy, right? Don't worry, it will all make sense in the end.

Next, to get rid of the "white" in between, I mixed about 10 parts of water to 1 part of Pookie Bear paint (in a rough estimate) and painted the entire wall. I also had some Finnabair rust paste lying around, so I added it on the edges, some spots in between to add to the texture, also to get a direction on where I was going with this.

Here's a close up.  You will notice that different layers already peeking through. We are getting there, I promise! 

Since our base is now ready, we will start to lighten the wall and add more layers. So, to the Dublin Jack, I mixed white. The more the white, the lighter the shade. I went for just about one shade lighter. Blot some light Dublin Jack onto the wall to create cloudy areas and fill in the sparse areas first.

Crumple the plastic bag to make a ball and then smooth some of that out. Remember, we don't want to hide the layers, we only want to add more. Here's how it looks after filling in the wall. Somehow, it still didn't look complete to me in terms of complexity of texture, so I went one step further.

I added some Methylated spirit to a spray bottle and sprayed all over the wall!

After this, I used a craft sponge and diluted Pookie Bear paint (almost 1:10) to distress the wall, and blend in the shades, in the process, also making it look less patchy.

You can see the shades peeking through on different parts of the wall:

I then went and finished off the edges, blending and darkening it with some Finnabair rust paste.

I also sprayed on the left over diluted Pookie Bear on the wall. Remember, there is no right or wrong here, just how darker, or lighter you want to go.

I had some Dublin Jack left on my tray, so I diluted it and sprayed it on the wall to finish the project. The key to recreate the complexity of copper patina is to make as many layers as possible.

After removing the masking tape, here's how the final wall looks like. I am in love with it!! It's almost like a piece of art :)

You could add bigger patches of shades of brown, but I am happy with how it looks. And, yes, those are my pallet wood tables.

 

Also, I wanted more patina look than copper anyway. My new favorite room in the house!

So, off to come up with a new project, let me know if you will be trying this out!

xo. Divya

Easy DIY Spray Painting Makeover

DIY spray paint makeovers can turn anything into a fun gorgeous quirky piece! Paint can help you create a unique look, style and can add a little pop of color to a dull design.

Here's a quick before and after:

DIY Rug Makeover

Do you have a dingy sad-looking rug sitting somewhere in your house? Instead of tossing it or hiding it, you might try giving it a new look with the help of painter's tape and acrylic paint.

Here's what my rug looked like before the start of the project. Sad, faded, and crying out for a refresh:

Since my rug had a crisp contemporary pattern, I did not have to remake a design with the painter's tape, but instead filled in the existing design with paint. Instead of spending the money on a brand new rug, painting it was a good solution.

See the difference between the painted and the non-painted areas:

Using standard acrylic paint in cobalt blue and black, I gave the rug one coat of paint. 

It took me only a few hours to finish this project, but love the pop of color! 

And, here is how it looks in its original space. What a massive difference!

Are you going to give your rug a makeover? Let me know if you decide to give this a shot!

Craft Room/ Study Reveal

Instead of sharing boring and sweaty pictures of putting this place together, I figured I’d just share the good! So without further ado, I wanted to share a quick tour around my new craft room (before decorating!!!) and of my new craft room basic set-up.

When we were looking for a new house, I was sure I needed a space for me for my crafts and my office supplies and I am so happy with how it is turning out! Besides looking fun and quirky, I also needed it to be functional for both of us. It took a bit of brainstorming, moving and adding things until I finally got it where it needed to be. Let's take a look!

You can see in the before photo that we basically painted it bright white like all the other rooms in the house bringing in a lot of natural light through the high windows. Loved it, and made the room look so much bigger than it actually was!

I went on and doodled one wall of the room to give it some color, texture and a quirky personality. It has turn out super fun!

Powder Room Faux Marble wall - DIY

I love marble! (Who doesn't?) I have a ton of marble stuff around our home. The natural stones and textures have some inconceivable depth that I just find so addictive.

Having a genuine marble wall would be amazing, but that would not count as art! Also, a genuine marble wall would mean a major expense, and a huge remodel which I don't think everyone has the time for. Being the crazy artsy self, I thought faux marble marble walls would take it to a whole different level, (and give me a large canvas to experiment on!) And I could also argue that repainting a wall in a faux marble finish would give me that classy marble look at a fraction of the cost. (Not sure about what I was up to, but I got a go ahead from hubs. Worst case scenario was that it would look like cobwebs, but we could just paint over it, so gave it a go anyway!)

I know several of you might shudder at the thought, but trust me - achieving the effect requires patience but is moderately easy. You can come up with your own tweaked technique to make up your own unique marble colors, or your design. There is no right or wrong, and the possibilities are endless!

Upcycled thrift store find: Altered Spoon (Tutorial)

Hello everyone! I hope you had a wonderful week. Today, I'm going to share how I altered this vintage spoon I had picked up at the Lost and Found Market. It had so much character that I just couldn't let it go.  

To get started, all you need, other than basic supplies, is an old silverware piece (which you can usually find at thrift stores):

Home: A Painting Tour

Who would have thought choosing paint colors is hard? Firstly, a range of colors is available, like even white has so many shades to choose from… where do you even start?

When we were deciding to move into our first home, I knew I wanted it white. The original color was sort of yellowish:

Craft Room Doodle wall

As soon as I had my own space for myself, I had to make it my own. Whether you have your own studio or a corner of your bedroom for your crafting, I feel this is a must to personalize your creative space and let the ideas flow. So, what better than to paint a wall? I did not want to simply paint it a color since I had already done that in other parts of my home. This had to be UNIQUE, so I went about scribbling for some ideas. And that's when I realized, what better than Doodling? Here is a draft I made incorporating everything I love:

Painting - Bani Thani!

Folks, in this post I would like to share a painting I had made several years ago. It is my version of the famous "Bani Thani" miniature painting. It is not an original, but I loved it so much that I had to try it! 

Hope you like it!

Love,
Divya

Radha Krishna paintings - Digging through my archives!

Folks, in this post I share some paintings of Radha Krishna I had made some years ago. The inspiration of all these paintings is the famous Krishna raasleela on the banks of the river Yamuna and the Madhuban forests of Vrindavan. 

Painting no. 1

Painting no. 2

Painting no. 3

And, here is a close-up of the above:

Hope you like them! :)

Love, 

Divya