DIY: OMBRÈ STORAGE UNIT.

 Living in a city centre apartment most certainly does have its advantages but when its comes to up cycling any kind of furniture they are not ideal. I do not have a private garden to cover in dust sheets and spray paint and when my 2 bedroom apartment only comprises of 5 actual rooms I don't even really have the space indoors to lock off a room and turn it into a paint shop. With that in mind I am always reluctant to buy any old furniture even if it is full to the brim with potential but that doesn't mean I don't have the urge to transform some of the smaller pieces of furniture I have floating around my home. 

The above storage unit is actually old bathroom storage that I used to keep all of my bathroom essentials in before they outgrew it and this piece of furniture ended up in what I like to refer to as the "cupboard of death" just think Monica from Friends in that episode with the secret closet. After spending a dark few months hidden out of sight I decided to pull it out and find a new purpose for it within the home.

 My office come spare bedroom is where I store everything that doesn't belong in my bedroom, bathrooms or open plan living room/kitchen so I am always on the look for new ways to hoard my junk. Originally it was just plain white but had collected a few scratches and chips over the years so it was in need of some TLC but I really didn't want to have to spend much money on doing it up. This is where keeping your old paint from previous decorating comes in handy as after a further rummage in the cupboard of death I found a huge pot of white paint and half a tub of duck egg blue that I actually used to paint my kitchen. 

After a quick browse on the internet at current up cycling trends I decided to make the most of my limited palette go for a plain white unit with ombrè draws. To give the unit its make over I simply sanded back some of the original paint to create a rough base, washed all the dust off and then painted it in 2 thin even layers of white paint. 

The draws where a fraction more complicated but all you need is 3 jars, a main colour of your choice and some white paint. Start off by pouring some of the coloured paint into a jar and marking that with the number 3. Secondly mix together 50/50 colour and white paint and mark that one 2. Last but not least you need predominately white paint in the jar with a touch of colour to make a very light shade and label this 1.  Using the same technique of thin even layers paint the draws according to their number and leave overnight to dry. Once dry you can seal this with a clear varnish but as I was working with zero budget I have left that final step until another day. 

What do you think of ombrè furniture and do you think that it is something you would try yourself? I think that this is a great way of bringing in current trends to your home without committing to a full ombrè paint effect on your walls. Overall I could not be happier with how this project turned out and it has just added even more fuel to my fire in regards to selling up and buying a bigger property with some outdoor space and some room to spread my wings.