Sunday, May 22, 2011

Pimp my Cubes!

When I was young(er) and single, I lived in a share house (our little bachelorette pad). Other than our singledom, the other thing my housemate and I had in common was our lack of money and furnishings! We were always on the lookout for bargain-basement furniture. 

When I came across these simple cubes, they met all my furniture criteria:

Cheap? $20 each. TICK
Minimal assembly? a few screws. TICK
sleek and functional? They're white boxes Amy, DUH. TICK & TICK!
I completely forgot a 'before' photo, so here's one which you can pick up from Walmart for $25 at the moment

They really are versatile little ditties. I bought three and they really can be arranged anyway you wish. I've used them in our previous apartment in the entryway - stacked three high, side by side on a countertop as a mini bookshelf and currently as a unique bedside table in our guest bedroom.

The walls in the guest bedroom are a light grey colour and I'm imagining a colourscheme of black, white and grey, with a punch of yellow in the accessories. Whilst the white cubes against the walls are quite striking, I feel like they could do with a little pimpin'. So I've decided to add some stencilled images to the backs of each.


Firstly, I unscrewed each cube

I measured the back square and using a funky sheet of scrabook paper, I cut out design that took my fancy and created a stencil.

Next, using simple black acrylic paint, I carefully stenciled the design onto three white squares of paper.



I then taped one onto each of the back boards of the cubes. I did it this way so that I can change it again if the mood takes me.  



I then reassembed the cubes back together, being careful not to tear or damage the back decorated side.


And there you have it!



I played around with the layout a bit - here they are stacked three high.
But decided that I really liked them as a little bedside table. What do you think? How gorgeous is that gerbra by the way? Such a vibrant red.




And what about the lamp? I think it matches so perfectly. It was a $4 lampshade from IKEA, which I recovered in some cute patterned fabric which I had lying around. Pretty simple to do - no tutorial required. Just grab your fabric and a glue gun!


  

I really love a cheap and chic make over like this. I would love to hear about your simple makeover stories - any makeover plans for the weekend?

Amy

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4 comments:

  1. Hi, I'm visiting from The Shabby Chic Cottage. I like the versatility of these cubes--both in the ways they can be arranged and the way you can change out the decoration on the back. Good ideas!

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  2. Thanks Marilyn! I'm tempted to build a few from scratch to add to my collection. Simple, but effective for added storage.

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  3. So cute!! What a great idea! My daughter has a bookshelf that could be 'pimped' the same way. I'll have to show her this post. She's been painting...not painting as in, the whole room one color... but painting pictures, random graphics etc. all over her walls, door, ceiling.... I think this is right up her alley!

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  4. Great idea! If your daughter is really into colours, she could even paint or draw on each shelf back a different colour for a funky effect.

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