How to… pastels vs brights

If you’ve been following our Instagram feed for the past few weeks, you’ll know we’ve been taking part in the #myhousethismonth challenge, which involves posting daily themed interior pics in a bid to win some fab prizes.

To be honest, we know we’re not in with a chance of winning… that’s not us being negative, we just know we have a bit of a way to go before our pictures are competition worthy. We’ve just loved being a part of the #myhousethismonth Instagram community, browsing through other peoples submissions, and having fun interpreting the different themes & developing our photography skills!

That said, one recent theme in particular really peaked our interest…

Pastels vs Brights

Rather than just take a picture of a pastel or bright interior scheme, Abby hit on the idea of doing a makeover challenge for our submission. This would involve us both buying a white plant pot, picking either a pastel or bright colour, giving each pot a makeover and then styling them in a way other than how they were originally intended to be used…

Simple 🙂

Step 1: Prep

We bought a couple of white pots from Ikea, measured and masked out a pattern on each, ensuring the surface was clean and ready for painting. We covered the larger areas we wanted to leave white with some waste paper, and made sure we covered the inside of the pots too in case of stray spray paint.

Abby’s pot would have a dip-dyed effect with just the bottom section painted, so she measured equal distances from the bottom around the pot to ensure she got a straight line. Tavia just free-handed some triangle shapes onto her pot

Step 2: Painting

We used all-purpose Rust-oleum spray paint that you can pick up from any good DIY store, and gave each pot 3 coats. Abby opted for a hot neon pink shade, whilst Tavia in contrast chose a pastel blue shade.

Spraying each coat took a bit longer than expected, as it suddenly started snowing half way through so we had to run back inside the house and wait for it to stop! Thankfully there was a long enough gap in the snow later on in the day to allow us to dash outside and finish up.

Once the paint was dry we removed all of the paper and masking tape and gave the pots a coat of lacquer to seal the surface.

Top Tip: When doing any spray painting do it outside where it’s well ventilated, and try and pick a day when its not windy otherwise you risk the paint flying in your direction (Abby’s coat now has a faint neon pink tint to it…)

Step 3: Style it up

Finding an alternative use for our pots, other than just storing plants, flowers or a variety of utensils was tricky…

Abby had been toying with the idea of getting a wire memo board that she could peg her photographs and postcards too, and spotted this cool trellis whilst we were in Ikea that would do the trick. Just prop it up inside the pot, add some mini pegs and voila 🙂

The neon pink pop on the plant pot matches Abby’s picture frame perfectly

Tavia’s pastel blue pot makes a great addition to her coastal-themed conservatory, and one thing you definitely need in a glass room during summer is a wine cooler!

This pot is the perfect size for housing a bottle of bubbly & plenty of ice

We think we’ve come up trumps on this challenge (if we do say so ourselves)… it’s refreshing thinking outside the box and repurposing home accessories, even though they aren’t old or broken.

Are you taking on a makeover challenge of your own? We’d love to hear all about it 🙂

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If you fancy having a go at this makeover, here’s a shopping list:

• Ikea PAPAJA Plant Pot, £2.75
• Rust-Oleum Neon Pink Spray Paint (150ml), £4.50
• Rust-Oleum Painter’s Touch Tranquil Blue Spray Paint (150ml), £4.50
• Rust-Oleum Protective Lacquer Spray (400ml), £9
• Ikea SOMMAR Trellis, £3.95