Soda Fontaine: DIY - Painting Shelves

I moved into a 3 bedroom flat with my partner a couple of months ago which allowed me to utilise the spare room as boudoir. I felt this was the opportune moment to breath some new life into my old draws and shelves that I've owned since a kid. Besides, every pinup needs a gorgeously decorated boudoir, am I right?! Below are the steps on how I approached and created my first DIY project of painting shelves. Seeming it's my first DIY project it's not the most exciting, but later in the year I will be redecorating my draws and a vintage writing desk.

Original Shelves

1. Research inspiration and plan a colour scheme.

I definitely knew I wanted mint green as my main colour but I tossed around on what colour to pair it with. I narrowed it down to either mint green and light pink, or mint green and white. As dreamy as the mint green and light pink was pictured in my mind, I decided to go with the safer, subtle option of mint green and white.

Etsy.com was my main source of inspiration on how I wanted to paint the shelves. I searched options such as, "retro shelves", "vintage shelves", "mint green shelves".

Choosing the paint was actually quite time consuming. Finding the mint green wasn't too difficult. I matched colour swatches against my shorts which were also mint green. It was helpful to directly have the comparison. Choosing the white took quite a while. There are so many shades of white!! It was a fine line of ensuring I wasn't choosing a stark white or something too creamy.

The paint I picked:

Horseshoe Falls by Dulux
...... by Dulux
Note: Make sure to buy tester pots to save yourself money as that's all you're going to need.

2. Sanding

This is the worst part. Sanding is not fun (well, for me it's not). My partner let me use his electric sander to make the job easier and he showed me how to use it. At first it was terrifying, I thought the sander was going to fly out of my hands.

To use an electric sander:

Make sure there is a fresh sheet of sandpaper attached to it.
Wipe any dust of the shelves.
I laid the shelves on its side to ensure it was sturdy while I worked.
Ensure the sander is constantly moving across the surface. Do not hold it still on one spot for too long.
Use sand paper on it's own, with out the tool, to sand those hard to reach corners/places
Note: I advise not sanding inside your house. Take it outside or into the garage.

3. Painting

Wipe clean all of the sanding residue.
I painted the inside of the shelves with the Horseshoe falls using a roller paint brush. I used an ordinary paint brush to take care of the corners. Ensure to apply your coat evenly as possible to avoid discolouration.
Next, I painted .... on the outside of the shelves in the same method as above.
Let it dry. Paint a second coat if necessary.