question for the shabby chic'ers

shandyclover

DD4 has finally gotten her own room now DD1 has moved out. DD1 took all the bedroom furniture with her so DD4's room is currently furnished with various oddments. It's a bit of a mess, with a pine bed, beech desk, white and oak coloured MDF bedside cabinet and MDF mahogany coloured wardrobe (I still have to find a chest of drawers, but I have no idea what to match it with!). Finances do not allow getting a new bedroom suite presently, but the whole mismatched look is getting me down. I have wildly thought about painting it all one colour, but then wondered with all the paint that might work out even more expensive than buying new furniture. DD4 is more the modern minimalist than the shabby chicer, but I thought some of you wise people might be able to advise me?

thriftwizard

Don't know how it is where you live, but at our Household Recycling Centre, paint is free to take away. And there are often huge tins of Farrow & Ball, believe it or not; people buy it & don't like the colour or the effect, and dump it… I often paint old bits of furniture with it for resale or display, though what colours turn up is very much in the lap of the gods! But you can mix colours of the same type of paint, to achieve something you (or she) like better.

If your local recycling company aren't so enlightened, you could ask on your local Freecycle/Freegle groups; someone out there will have surplus paint you could use up for just the cost of picking it up.

meames_2

A litre of chalk paint did 1 ikea double wardrobe and one single cupboard including shelves. 2 coats each! they are laminate too.