Colour pop tallboy

From Designer DIY and DIY hacks - ideas and inspiration

Renovate a bland old piece of furniture by giving it a spectacular colour block makeover!

Like many people, Sarah had a tallboy at home that was nothing fancy, and showing definite signs of wear and tear, but was still too good a piece of furniture to give up on. It’s not broken, just tired. Rather than put it in the too-hard basket, Sarah shows us how to completely overhaul a tallboy with an intense pop of bright colour that can be enjoyed for many years to come.

You will need

• A substantial item of furniture like this tallboy
• Sandpaper or an electric sander
• Screwdriver for changing out the hardware
• Testpot brushes, Resene Quick Dry primer undercoat
• Resene SpaceCote Flat in Resene Keppel, Resene Aquaclear Natural, Resene testpot in Resene Spark

Instructions

Learn how to prepare and paint a tallboy:

Step 1: Remove the existing hardware using a screwdriver. This tallboy had shiny silver handles that Sarah was keen to replace.

Step 2: Give the frame and drawers a good sand with an electric sander. You could easily do this by hand using sandpaper if you don’t have an electric sander. This particular tallboy was made of MDF, with a shiny white lacquer coating. Sarah sanded this back so she could paint over it.

Step 3: Once the sanding is complete, wipe the surface down to remove all sanding dust. Then apply one coat of Resene Quick Dry primer undercoat to all the exterior surfaces using a testpot brush.

Step 4: Apply two coats of your chosen paint colour to the drawers. Sarah chose Resene SpaceCote Flat in Resene Keppel, which is super bright, fun and an on-trend flat finish.

Step 5: After the drawers, apply two coats of your chosen colour to the main frame. We used Resene Keppel.

Step 6: Finish the surface with Resene Aquaclear Natural, or you can leave it as is.

Step 7: Choose new hardware for your drawers. Sarah chose some simple round wooden knobs and painted them in two coats of metallic Resene Spark.

Step 8: Attach the new handles with a screwdriver and reassemble the drawers.