Lockdown DIY SOS - 6 Clever Paint Ideas To Transform Your Home During Lockdown

A warm hello from me on week 4 (I think!) of self-isolation in the Gold Is A Neutral house. How are we all doing? This ‘working from home with kids’ thing is quite something isn’t it? I’m writing this with a four-year-old in a tutu sat on my lap, and trying to stop her little fingers from joining in the typing, while the seven-year-old asks me for his 754th snack of the day, so apologies if there are any typo’s.

In between the homeschooling, snack dispensing, cooking, cleaning etc, I’ve had lots of ideas of content that might be useful to you during the lockdown, but I wasn’t sure if anyone wanted to read about interiors at a time like this. So I asked and the response was overwhelmingly yes. It seems that most of you want an escape from the constant news updates, and most of you want ideas for easy DIY projects or styling tips which are do-able during lockdown. None of us know how long this is going to go on for but I’ve got a series planned out and will aim to do one blog a week. Let’s face it, it will take me a week to actually write it due to my rather needy and distracting new work colleagues ;-)

Quite a few of you also asked for less words and more pretty pictures to look at, as your brains are frazzled by the end of the day so I have kept that in mind too.

I’m starting the lockdown series with bringing you some paint-spiration. If you’re anything like me you’ve probably got loads of half tins of paint and sample pots gathering dust in a shed or under the stairs. Instead of letting them dry out, why not use this time to get creative and try something new. If you don’t like it, you can easily paint over it again, it’s only paint!

There are quite a few paint stockists still offering delivery to your door so take advantage of that while you till can. I’ll add a list of suppliers at the bottom of this blog.

Most importantly, most of these jobs will only take a day at most, but they could make a huge difference to how a room makes you feel.

1) Paint A Window Frame In A Contrasting Colour

This is something I’ve done in both of the kids rooms and I love the impact it has in both. You only need a small tin of eggshell and some painters tape (or a steady hand) and it will take you no time at all. In terms of what colour to choose it depends on the room. In a light room go for something deeper, darker and preferably brighter. In a dark room, go for a strong, bright punchy colour. Acid brights look amazing against dark walls and really lift a room. In Rafferty’s room we have Hague Blue walls and the window frame is Charlotte’s Locks, a deep vibrant orange, which ties up with other furniture in the room. In Nellie’s room I’ve used Earthborn’s Humpty Dumpty, alongside Paw Print walls. It’s worth flagging up here that Earthborn have started taking online orders as a result of the lockdown and they are currently aiming for next day or day after delivery which is the best offering from any of the paint manufacturers. They are also a lovely small British business with a great heart so support them if you can.

I could have also picked out the neon pink from one of her prints for the window frame and it would have looked very cool, but I wanted a softer palette for in here. Brighter shades of yellow, even neon, work really well with greys, as do bright pinks. Greens and teals work with pink. Orange and corals are good with dark green or dark blue walls. I also like a tonal palette of different depths of a similar colour. So duck egg blue walls would be given an anchor with a darker blue window frame for example. If you’re not sure if a colour will work, do a quick sample on pieces of paper first. There is no right or wrong but all I’d say is to avoid wishy-washy colours. It needs to be strong.

2) Paint The Inside Of Your Front Door

I’m undertaking this one myself. Hallways are often narrow and poorly lit (ours is) and can be hard to get your head around from a design point of view. It took me ages to work out how to make the most of ours. The inside of the front door is an ideal opportunity to make a statement, and especially if you are lucky enough to have a wide entrance. Again, think about balancing dark and light and working with what you have on your walls. There is nothing that says the inside of the door has to be the same colour as the outside of the door. They can even clash because the two will never be viewed next to each other. I’m painting the inside of ours in a rich aubergine shade called Pontefract by Paint & Paper Library. It will actually make it a bit darker in there but we have dark woodwork already and I love the colour paired with the dusky pink China Clay Dark on the walls. If you are blessed with a wider hallway, I really recommend checking out what Melanie Lissack did with the inside of her front door. She took the colour out beyond the door frame to give the illusion of a wider, grander door frame and it’s really effective.

Melanie Lissack’s front door looks even bigger than it is because she extended the paint beyond the frame

I also love Emily from Fallow Grey’s pink door which brings a softness and added character to this entrance into the cloakroom. It’s just gorgeous!

3) Try something completely different

If there was ever a time to let your imagination go wild, this is it. Try something new and if you don’t like it, you can always paint over it. That’s the beauty of paint! I love Jordan and Russell from 2LG Studio’s scalloped door frame. It feels almost naughty and disruptive to play around with the shape of something so conventional and functional in the home. If you fancy giving this a go, check out their blogpost here.

And look what Marisa from Oakapple Decor has done with her bedroom doors. All you need is some paint, decorators tape and a little patience. This wouldn’t work on our traditional panelled internal doors however you can also apply the same technique to smaller items of furniture like a sideboard or bench. Marisa, and her husband Chris, who is a decorator by trade, have done lots of inspiring DIY’s as part of their home renovation and you can find lots of tips in her Instagram highlights. She also shared this very handy and thrifty tip which is particularly useful during lockdown: “I’ve started mixing my own paint colours from leftovers so if you are doing a small project it saves buying a full tin!”

Stripes and curves in Marisa and Chris from Oakapple Decor’s pink bedroom

Another fun project to bring some fun to plain walls is to try your hand at a mural like the one Lissi from Oxford One has created in her kitchen. She wanted to inject some colour into her all white kitchen without committing to new cupboards or tiles, so painted on this mural which completely transforms the space for very little cost or effort. She said: “Kitchens are notoriously hard to get colour into unless you’re going bold with cabinets or tiles, so to get my colour fix in without committing to either of these more permanent decisions I created a mural framing the space around the sink. As this space is open plan it’s difficult to paint one wall without painting the lot so murals offer a flexible way of adding a splash of colour.”

Lissi from Oxford One transformed her sink area with this bright, colour pop mural

4) Frame your art

This is such a fab, simple idea to elevate your artwork. It takes no time at all and you can do it with leftover sample pots. Personally I think it works best on light, neutral walls but you could try it on dark walls too. I love this colour block created by interior designer Emma Gurner. The block of blue creates a wide frame and makes the art pop in the otherwise simple dining room. This technique also has the added bonus of making a smaller piece of art have the same impact as a much larger piece. Emma says: “Painting around a piece of art will give it more impact, but choose a more subtle colour that won’t over-power the art itself.”

But it doesn’t have to be brights…if this is too much colour for you, I also love interior designer Andrew Jonathan’s low-key version of this trend. He has painted a different shade of white in gloss over the white matt walls to frame a black and white photograph. Without the black frame, this would lack impact but altogether it’s very effective.

5) Paint Out Your Fireplace

Another quick and simple trick to give a room an instant lift is to paint out the fireplace. You could paint the same colour as the walls, or you could go for something completely different. I’m sharing another one of Emma’s projects below because a) I’m crushing hard on these cool baby blues at the moment, and b) this image shows not one, but two upcycles involving a fresh lick of paint. That Oriental cabinet has been given the wow factor with that burst of yellow. That combined with the painted fireplace brings an instant lift to the white room. Emma says: “ I used both of these colours throughout the open plan space, in varying tones, to create harmony and balance.”

A painted fireplace is also a great way of injecting some fun into a kids room or playroom, if you’re lucky enough to have those original features. Check out the acid green fireplace in the playroom at the Peach Palace aka Katie Woods from Come Down To The Woods’ house. There’s more greens over at my friend Carol of Max Made Me Do It’s house. This is her son Max’s room and Carol picked out the green from the Polish circus poster for the fireplace. She has also continued the green around the skirting board and on to his door frame and the inside of his door.

6) Reach for the ceiling

I’ve left this one till last because granted it’s a bit more laborious than the other suggestions I’ve included here. I have to admit I hate painting ceilings because it hurts my arms and it does require a certain amount of upheaval as you either need to move all the furniture out or cover and tape it all up very, very carefully. however the results are awesome so if you do have the time, the inclination…and access to the paint required, I would wholeheartedly recommend you consider painting your ceiling in a colour which isn’t brilliant white. I recently painted our lounge and dining room ceiling in this dusky blue (it’s Bone China Blue by Little Greene) after years of hating the contrast between the inky blue walls and white ceilings. It’s a subtle change but it’s softened and warmed up the room, making it feel cosier and more stylish at the same time. I’m also mulling over bringing the blue down the walls to create a kind of picture rail with paint. Watch this space for that development…

Other painted ceilings I love are Nicki from And Then They Went Wild’s black ceiling which brings a rock ‘n’ roll edge to her glam peachy lounge. Finally, another of clever Andrew Jonathan’s projects is this pea green ceiling which transforms his narrow hallway into a seriously stylish space. The colour is Hopper by Little Greene and note how he has brought the colour down the walls slightly, and the added twist of the strip of white. Bravo Andrew!

I’m going to leave it there but I hope that’s given you some ideas for some cheap, cheerful and fun painting projects you can try your hand at over this lockdown period. Get those pots out and see what colours you have to play with. The list of paint manufacturers still delivering is below too. Please share any projects you have a go at by tagging me on Instagram and on Stories. I’d love to see them and share what you’ve been up to.

Earthborn - Online orders and Next Day or Day After Delivery

Mylands - Online orders - 4-5 days delivery time

Little Greene - Website, Customer Service and Online orders operating as usual - Delivery within 5 working days

Paint & Paper Library - Website, Customer Service and Online operating as usual - Delivery within 5 working days

Farrow & Ball - Online and web orders only - 14 - 21 days delivery time

Crown - Online orders - 14 - 21 days delivery