A Basic Amazon Bench Got a Makeover That Looks Designer (for $20!)
Shoe storage can be stylish, to boot (pun fully intended), and there are tons of painted furniture upcycles to prove that. DIYer Emily Siphene (@enehpisme) gave her solid black shoe bench from Amazon a bold new look for under $20.
“I wanted to add some color and pattern to my space,” Emily says. “The ‘before’ was a simple black bench … I wanted to make it look more interesting.”
The bench got a bold blue striped look.
Emily says she’d been inspired by a lot of striped furniture lately, and she wanted to give it a try herself. “I went back and forth on color options, then ultimately landed on blue stripes to add color to my mostly neutral space,” she says.
She picked Behr’s Treasure Map and Chilly Blue for her project. “I love how it’s the first thing you see when you walk into my space,” she says. “It’s eye-catching and functional.”
She lightly sanded the bench so the paint adhered better, and she used painter’s tape to create her stripes.
The DIYer finished the job with a polyurethane seal.
Emily recommends applying one or two coats of polyurethane seal after painting stripes. “It’s like a top coat that makes the paint look shinier and more finished,” she says, and she also recommends waiting for the paint to fully dry between coats.
Emily says in hindsight, she wasn’t patient enough and she ended up having to add extra layers of paint to even things out. “The paint got too thick,” she says. “It looks nicer when the stripes are flat.”
Her best DIY advice? “Be patient and take your time,” she says. That, and don’t be afraid to upcycle!
Inspired? Submit your own project here.