Painting an Ugly Book With Chalk and Craft Paint
by
Megan Aubrey
I love coffee table books. I love to look at them, to stack them, to tear pages out of them and frame them. I especially like to dig through piles of old books at thrift stores to see what treasures I can find.
However, some of the best books on the inside aren’t the best looking on the outside.
I loved the material inside and the awesome retro pictures (that are now back in style). I grabbed this one with an idea to frame some of the pictures.
I also thought it would be a great book to try something to make it look a little snazzier – painting it!
I had just finished painting my shelf with Annie Sloan chalk paint in Simply White and was already dying to try another project with it.
So I painted my book with chalk paint. Two coats and it was done.
The white was better but still kind of boring.
I decided to (finally) try this Frogtape chevron tape. Except I didn’t want just typical chevron; I wanted to mix it up a little. My mixing it up consisted of off centering the lines of tape with each other to give it less of a chevron look and more of a geometric look.
Then I used my gold craft paint and painted two coats over it.
I’m thrilled by how I turned this beige-y boring book into a shimmering showstopper. But, hey, if I don’t like it tomorrow I can always paint it again!
However, some of the best books on the inside aren’t the best looking on the outside.
I loved the material inside and the awesome retro pictures (that are now back in style). I grabbed this one with an idea to frame some of the pictures.
I also thought it would be a great book to try something to make it look a little snazzier – painting it!
I had just finished painting my shelf with Annie Sloan chalk paint in Simply White and was already dying to try another project with it.
So I painted my book with chalk paint. Two coats and it was done.
The white was better but still kind of boring.
I decided to (finally) try this Frogtape chevron tape. Except I didn’t want just typical chevron; I wanted to mix it up a little. My mixing it up consisted of off centering the lines of tape with each other to give it less of a chevron look and more of a geometric look.
Then I used my gold craft paint and painted two coats over it.
I’m thrilled by how I turned this beige-y boring book into a shimmering showstopper. But, hey, if I don’t like it tomorrow I can always paint it again!
Painting a book with chalk paint and craft paint to glitz up an ugly book!
I found this mid century coffee table book at a thrift store. Ugly on the outside but beautiful on the inside.
Check out the insides of this awesome book!
Oh mid century living room, we are embracing you again. Wouldn't it be fun to frame some of these pictures too?
I painted on two coats of Annie Sloans Simply White chalk paint. It covered so quickly!
Then I taped a geometric pattern on the book with chevron Frogtape.
Finally I painted two coats of regular old gold craft paint.
Check out this showstopper now!
Here is the book hanging out in our entertainment stand - complete with cars. Don't you love how it glitzes up my husband's car collection?
I love how this book turned out.
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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4 comments
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I never thought about painting books! Great idea.
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Am making recipe boxes (I hope) out of old, ugly, thick books. Plan on cutting out a lot of the pages and placing loose recipes (families)in the books. I paint so I thought I might paint on the covers...your idea is sooooo great . Thanks for getting me up and running. Good job.
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@Le' I LOVE that idea! How cool!!!
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