I recently caught the painting bug. It all started with a cheap bookcase and the urge to refresh my love of my apartment. I didn’t realize that by painting that one thing that I’d all of a sudden look at every single piece of furniture that crossed my path differently. As soon as that bookcase was dry and I saw what a huge difference it made in my living room, I knew what my next project would be…

I have this little display case that holds the majority of my tooth collection. My dad won it at an auction for me three or four years ago. I was all “bid whatever, it’s perrrrfect! I need it!” Auctions make me really nervous, I hate the uncertainty. So I paced around another part of the building while he tried to win it for me. The winning bid? Ten bucks! It’s a little bit more dinged up these days than it used to be but its still the perfect way for me to display all my weird things (and not have to worry about dusting them ever!) After seeing my bookcase painted, this display case NEEDED to be black too.

Something I noticed right away with the bookcase was that I was scratching off paint when placing some of my items with pointy edges. It’s not a huge deal, especially when there is stuff on the shelf. It’s just that I really like my display case and I plan on keeping it for a long time so I wanted the paint job to be something a little bit more permanent. I had, of course, helped my parents paint things when I was little but this was my first time as an adult painting anything by myself so I wasn’t exactly privy to the fact I’d need primer, especially when painting fake wood items.

I went to Home Depot, told the woman all about my project, and she pointed me toward Valspar Bonding Primer. It was twice the price of the paint I was buying and only came in a gallon which is way more than I needed but I went for it anyway. It sounded like exactly what I needed, and the lady couldn’t say enough good things about it!

One coat of primer, and two coats of black paint later? I’m in LOVE. Just like with the bookcase, the black makes all my things really pop. I really don’t know why I never though to do this sooner. It’s so simple and it makes such a huge difference. The sense of satisfaction from knowing that I did it myself is pretty darn awesome too.

It’s amazing what a cheap can of paint and a few hours can do for ya! I don’t really think I have anything else I can paint but I’m sure I’ll find something soon. 😉
xoxo


PS. If you’re curious and would like a before shot to compare these after shots to check out this post!