Freewheeling your way to creativity in lockdown
Bored fingers twitching? Try some of our paint and detritus projects to cheer a quiet afternoon, using largely what you have hanging around the house and outdoor clutter-caves.
Consider sharing spare DIY and crafting materials with neighbours, but always exercise the HSE’s pointers on social distancing and sanitise surfaces.
DARE TO DIP
Dipped styling is a ridiculously simple way to up-cycle any wooden kitchen chair, but prep is absolutely crucial.
Dramatic colour shifts to white look fantastic in a neutral space.
Try out that border on scrap wood to see if you prefer a fade or sharp belt of colour.
Satin white and bare wood is very clean, calming and now.
Find some sandpaper and give yourself a key to work on if the chair is lacquered, otherwise the paint will just slither off.
A universal liquid or spray primer is ideal, so order online or pick up a product for wood and metal — a garage staple.
Rustoleum does a 400ml can for €12.30. Terrified? Stick to the legs.
The team at Dulux advises on edging: “Thinking sideways pays off.
Find forgotten and overlooked edges and think about how you can make them stand out — door lips, the edges of tables or the edge of a chair can be reclaimed with a quick coat of paint.
Use a small roller for extra speedy (and easy) application.”
BIKE ROLLOUT
We all have one truly exhausted bike — a toddler’s three-wheeler or an ancient Raleigh.
Primed and finished in exterior gloss, a wheeled steed with a good line can wittily elevate seasonal planting.
If the wheels are really coming apart, they may look better without the tyres.
Leave the bike against or up on a fence and secured with two-three L-shaped brackets for safety sake or even dig the wheels half into the ground.
If you leave the bike wheels pumped up, the planter can be repositioned — set on its stand or against a fat tree trunk.
Just be wary of young children pulling the piece down — it’s not a toy.
If you have the confidence to cut the bike up, the front wheel, frame and handlebars can magically come out of the house wall with a blooming, zooming basket.
Use zip ties to lash on extra pots and planters, including the spokes of the wheels and back-carrier.
PALLET RELAUNCH
Wooden shipping pallets have multiple uses inside and out.
Your neighbour might hoist one over the fence to you.
That rough, furry wood can be carefully smoothed back to indoor service with a little patience.
Once you get more confident with a small box saw and can send a screw in straight, pallets can be taken apart to make anything from a spice rack to outdoor garden furniture with fat flat cushions to soften your landing.
Crucial tip — do straight cut-downs, rather than gutting the pallet.
Use sanding blocks and/or sheets wrapped around pieces of scrap (40/80/120 grades), a mouse or random orbital sander to produce a genuine, velvety loveliness front and back with fine figuring.
Work outdoors and wear a mask. Finish with a damp dust and stain or varnish with something from your “must use someday” pile of products.
For more pallet-perfect ideas, visit Pinterest.
ON THE BENCH
One bench, a sunny wall, cuddle-up containers, and you have somewhere to get out into the garden and decompress.
Most timber and plastic can be cheered up with spare gloss or emulsion depending on its surface texture.
My advice is to go loud. Searing horticultural colour is all in this season, so if we can’t get to the garden centres, we can put a bloom on what’s already there.
Exterior paint is generally designed for metal and wood — perfect.
Having put on a mask or tied up a handkerchief on your mouth and nose, rub down any loose paint from previous coats.
Check the fixings so that structural failure is not likely to dump us on the flags come August.
Fill any dings with paste wood filler, sanding back meticulously once that’s set.
If you have some primer, prime. Otherwise, feather jaded paint edges flat with a light rub.
Use glue and clamps to secure more serious splits.
One colour treatment or harlequin-style colour to slats makes good use of leftover sample pots.
Try your scheme on scrap wood first for the right rhythm.
Paint out of direct sunshine to let the liquids cure correctly.
Short of finishing products for wood? Use boiled linseed oil to feed raw, suffering outdoor furniture.
EASTER TREE
Blowing out and painting eggs is a very traditional pastime.
As we may want to hang the eggs up use the hole you created to blow the egg out to place some floral wire or ribbon threaded through with a large darning needle to fix on some wool or twine.
Kids will enjoy freehand painting with poster paints, attaching beading and glitter, but there are other materials around the house, ideal for a simple decoupage finish.
Spare party napkins can be cut up for their motifs.
Snip out the design and peel the ply of the napkins apart to deliver a soft, easily manipulated shape with a tiny amount of stretch that you can glue to the egg.
Use one or two panels or layer the design to cover the entire surface.
Crafting (PVA) glue is used to secure the tissue, and is used a second time to varnish the design down.
Hang the eggs on bundled tree branches wrapped in bright wool from your past knitting projects, or pile them up in a bowl.
