When I first began designing my new workspace I quickly discovered one consistent theme that carried throughout all my inspirational images – the presence of subtle metallic elements. Based on my use of gold and silver foil in previous DIY projects (seen here, here and here), it’s fairly obvious that I love a good pop of metallic. For my workspace I wanted to branch away from the undone look I previously achieved through foiling and create something more muted and subdued. That is where this gold chair and lamp DIY came into play.
I had wanted to work with gold spray paint for quite some time but had not come up with the perfect project to use it on. When I started breaking down my budget for my workspace (re. small budget) I realized that I would not be able to afford to purchase the gold elements I hoped to and began thinking about ways to turn inexpensive items, in this case a Snille Swivel chair from IKEA and a small lamp from Amazon, into custom items that could serve both practical and decorative purposes. Supplies in hand, I set out to transform the base of my Snille chair and lamp into shining golden statement pieces.
MATERIALS
Waiting for the paint to dry.
Using spray paint is relatively fool proof. You simply clean the surface you wish to paint, lay down some sort of covering to paint on in a well-ventilated outdoor area and spray away. I did run into one issue when working with the paint…the temperature. Los Angeles hit the mid-90s on the weekend I embarked on this project and, as a result, my paint did not dry as smoothly as I hoped. I eventually made an emergency trip to Home Depot and picked up some primer to apply prior to my coats of gold. The primer helped some but I still ended up with a few areas that my perfectionist self is not 100% happy with. Real talk.
Golden detailing
That issue aside, I am quite pleased with how both the chair and lamp turned out. The chair in particular exceeded all my expectations by going from looking like a generic $20 IKEA chair to something you might find in a décor store. The lamp adds a gorgeous little pop of gold to my otherwise neutral desk surface and fits in perfectly with the rest of the décor in our living space. I HIGHLY recommend giving a simple project like this a try. It is such a cost effective way to dress up basic furniture and household items, elevating them to pieces that are anything but ordinary.
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