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Using Paint Palettes To Create Artwork-Inspired Furniture

05.16.13 | By
Using Paint Palettes To Create Artwork-Inspired Furniture

I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am to share this post with you. I love finding new little tricks and programs that help ease through the creative process, and Sherwin-Williams’ Chip It! is one of them.

Lately I’ve been looking to inject a little color into my home, but wasn’t sure in what direction I should go. I knew I wanted to paint this dark, weighty bookcase to lighten up a drab corner of my house – it’s a nice piece, but not helping my situation. From there, I needed a little help.

DIY Weaving Inspired Painted Bookcase

I started with what I have: a lot of chunky woven textures, and a very neutral palette. That immediately brought to mind the work of New Friends – a collaboration between Alexandra Segreti of Weird Friends and Kelly Rakowski of Nothing Is New. Together they create graphic weavings that are true works of art.

I scrolled down their website and came across this piece:

DIY Weaving Inspired Painted Bookcase

Bingo – it perfectly captured where I wanted to go. The palette had the same tans, grays and whites that already exist in my interior, but with a pop of bright pink that would bring a little life into the room.

From there, it was a piece of cake: I uploaded the image to Chip It!, which matched the colors in the photo to Sherwin-Williams paints. Chip It! suggested 10 colors from the photo, which I then dragged and dropped to create a 5-color Chip Card. There’s even an option to tag your Chip Card, if you’re an organization nut like me.

Sherwin Williams Chip It New Friends Weaving

You can then print your Chip Card to bring to your local Sherwin-Williams, but I just accessed the Chip It! website from my smartphone while I was at the store. The Sherwin-Williams staff was unbelievably helpful and even assisted me in choosing the right paint finishes and supplies: eggshell for the base coat, high-gloss to make the pink really stand out, and semi-gloss for the rest.

Sherwin Williams Chip It New Friends Weaving

Once I was home, I started by painting the entire bookcase in a base coat of Extra White (SW 7006). I then taped off and painted small sections with the remaining colors until I felt it was evocative of the New Friends work I used as inspiration.

DIY Weaving Inspired Painted Bookcase

DIY Weaving Inspired Painted Bookcase

DIY Weaving Inspired Painted Bookcase

DIY Weaving Inspired Painted Bookcase

DIY Weaving Inspired Painted Bookcase

Voilà!

DIY Weaving Inspired Painted Bookcase

DIY Weaving Inspired Painted Bookcase

DIY Weaving Inspired Painted Bookcase

Meg Kemner gained her informal education at Space 1026, beginning in the print industry and weaving seamlessly through roles in photography, editorial, digital media, art, fashion, interiors and graphic design. When she isn't hunting for new and strange materials at local hardware stores and flea markets, Meg consolidates her creative work at MK Dept. of Treasury and writes the Design Milk DIY column.