We’ll be the first to tell you — your work environment has a direct impact on your productivity. As colors can affect your mood, we’re strong proponents of decorating spaces with hues that will encourage creativity, focus and confidence at work. Today, we’re teaming up with Sherwin-Williams® to show you how to give your workspace a majorly colorful update. With the help of their new app, ColorSnap®, a few coats of Emerald® paint and a quick trip to the thrift store, we transformed a ho-hum home office into a bright and delightful colorful workspace that is sure to get our creative juices flowing.
Quite an improvement, huh? I used the Sherwin-Williams® ColorSnap® app to land on the perfect color palette. The app extracts exact paint colors from any photo I upload. How neat is that?
Oranges inspire confidence and optimism, while pinks represent passion and a more channeled energy than its fiery red neighbor. I want to have all of these emotions while in creative work mode, so I went with a sweet spot of peach hues, inspired by my Instagram of a dewy, blooming rose.
ColorSnap® helped me land on these paint colors: SW 7114 Palish Peach, SW 6638 Flattering Peach, SW 6618 Cosmetic Peach and SW 6890 Osage Orange.
How to Turn a Weird Print into a Dry Erase Board
To get comfortable using Emerald® paint, I started with a simple (and super cool!) project: I turned an old art print into a dry erase board. Sherwin-WIlliams® makes a genius product called Sketch Pad™ Dry Erase Coating that turns almost any surface into a dry erase board, and it’s very easy to use. Check it out!
Materials + Tools:
— framed canvas print
— Sherwin-Williams® Emerald® Paint in 2 colors (I used SW 6618 Cosmetic Peach and SW 7114 Palish Peach)
— Sherwin-Williams® Sketch Pad™ Dry Erase Coating (the kit comes with a paint roller and cover, roller tray, gloves and a stir stick)
— angled nylon bristle brushes, assorted sizes
— painter’s tape
Alright, I need to explain this bizarre art print: This is Blue Boy. Why did I choose this dude as a base for a dry erase board, you ask? That gold frame has a LOT of potential, and Blue Boy is printed on a sturdy canvas. Plus, the thrift store where I discovered him had dozens of replicas of the very same print, so I didn’t feel as though I was ruining someone’s original artwork.
Blue Boy received A LOT of attention at Brit HQ. TBH, we’re kind of sad to see him go. But alas! Onto the DIY.
First, carefully tape off the inner edges of the frame.
Use an angled brush to add a coat of paint over the entire canvas. (Goodbye, Blue Boy!) Add a second coat if needed, then let dry completely.
Put on the rubber gloves, then mix parts A and B together to create one quart of coating. Stir until the mixture is nearly opaque, then pour into the roller tray. Coat your roller evenly in mixture. Be sure to roll off excess paint to minimize dripping.
Roll the Sketch Pad™ coating onto the now-dry print. Be sure to coat the full canvas evenly. If necessary, use a small brush to cover the edges. The coating will dry to a clear gloss finish. Let dry for seven full days before using dry erase markers on the board.
If you too are painting part of the outer frame, add new strips of tape to surround where you’ll paint. Then paint the frame using a small angled brush.
Once this paint is dry, remove all of the tape.
Aaand we’re done! Talk about a transformation.
After seven days, you can write on the board with dry erase markers.
Give Your Drab Desk a Dreamy Ombre Paint Job
Next up, I’m bringing a very necessary facelift to an old desk. When in doubt, ombre is the answer.
Materials + Tools:
— wood desk
— Sherwin-Williams® Emerald® paint (we used 4 colors in similar hues for an ombre effect: SW 7114 Palish Peach, SW 6638 Flattering Peach, SW 6618 Cosmetic Peach and SW 6890 Osage Orange)
— angled nylon bristle paintbrushes, assorted sizes
— small paint roller
— dropcloth
— paint tray + liner
— paint stir sticks
— screwdriver
I picked up this worn desk at a local thrift store. Sure, it looks pretty sad and banged up, but it’s got great bones.
First, remove the drawer pulls from each drawer and set aside.
Stir the second lightest paint with a stir stick, then pour into the tray liner.
Pro Tip: You can actually use a quarter to remove the paint lids. Nifty, huh?
Coat your paint roller evenly, then paint the face of each of the highest drawers. Let it dry.
Repeat these steps with the third lightest paint color for the next row of drawers.
And repeat again with the darkest shade on the lowest set of drawers.
Next, paint the body of your desk in the lightest shade. I painted most of it with the roller, then did finishing touches with a paint brush.
Lastly, paint each of the drawer pulls. If you find that these don’t take paint very well, you can try sanding them first or opt for spray paint.
Once the paint is completely dry, reattach each drawer pull.
Reinsert the drawers into the desk.
Voila! SO MUCH BETTER. Paint is magical, people.
Decorate!
Lastly, I added bright and cheery office accessories to the desk.
I had to include a print of the inspo photo. So meta.
Also, big shout-out to our #50DaysofLettering Challenge for my brand new hand lettering skills :)
Pro Tip: When accessorizing a space, you only need to loosely follow the original color palette. For example, I stayed in the pastel family but added in pops of bronze and gold. There’s a fine line between cohesive and too matchy-matchy.
I can’t stress this enough: Plants are a workaholic’s best friend. They’re scientifically proven to enhance productivity.
There we go! An office that finally matches my personality and will (hopefully!) inspire productivity.
Here are some bonus photos, mostly because I can’t get enough of my new workspace.
Why yes, that IS a French Bulldog tape dispenser. Thanks for noticing.
What colors would you paint your workspace? Share with us on Twitter @BritandCo!
This post is a collaboration with Sherwin-Williams®.
Author: Maddie Bachelder
Production + Styling: Maddie Bachelder
Photography: Chris Andre