DIY Ombre Painted Basket

Transform a Thrifted Basket by painting it in a blended ombre look

We moved some furniture around in our house recently.  I used to use a desk as a dressing table, but it was big and bulky.  The upside was that it had ample storage.  We moved a smaller table into our room to serve as a dressing table instead – it looks a lot better in the space than the old desk, but it had no room for my hairdryer and hair styling equipment. 

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Then I remembered about this basket, tucked away in a cupboard.  We bought it initially to use as a beach-basket, but haven’t used in the last couple of years.  The basket worked perfectly to keep all my hair styling equipment, and even hides the extension cord and plug.  But the colours did not work with the rest of the room, so I decided to paint it. 

And I finished this DIY ombre painted basket just in time for this month’s Thrifty Thursday; Less is More roundup!  If you are joining from any of the other sites, welcome to Windmill & Protea!  Be sure to check out the others’ gorgeous transformations – Links will be at the end of the post.

Clean and Prime

The first step will always be to clean your basket, especially if you grabbed yours at the thrift store!  Clean it properly and allow to dry.  I also decided to prime my basket – I did not want to take the risk of the colours bleeding through.  I painted two quick coats of multi-surface primer before moving onto the next step.  If your basket does not have colours in it, it is probably not necessary to prime it.

Paint your colours of choice

The next step is to decide on the number of colours you are going to use, and how big you want to make the sections.  I started with a navy blue at the bottom and gradually increased the width of the colours to a light grey at the top.  Draw lines on the basket and paint your colours in blocks first – we will get to the blending in a minute.  Paint all your colours and allow to dry. 

I have to confess, at this point, I was apprehensive that I had messed up the basket.  But don’t stress too much – move on to the next step and it will get better, I promise!

Blending your colours

Now you will start to blend the colours you have just painted.  I found this tutorial very helpful.  Blend one section at a time.  Paint a bit of both colours at the dividing line, spray with a mist sprayer and then start blending in a circular motion with a clean paintbrush.  Work on that section until you are happy with how it looks, and then move on. 

I blended every second division line, waited for the paint to dry and then moved on to the remaining sections. 

Add more detail with a dry brush technique

I decided to add more detail and depth to the texture of the basket with dry brushing.  Dry brushing is where you dip your paintbrush into the paint, wipe it on a paper towel until almost all the paint is dry and then apply it to your project.  The drybrush technique worked so well on my butterfly frame, and I wanted to use it again.

I worked with one colour at a time and waited for the paint to dry before moving on to the next colour to avoid more blending.  This step is to add depth, so you don’t want the colours to blend again.  You can be creative with this step but start with the darkest colour and end with the lightest. I dry brushed along the diagonal weave lines of the basket instead of using vertical or horizontal motions.

Now put your DIY Ombre Painted Basket to good use

That is it; you are done.  Now style your basket and start using it in your home.  An ombre basket will also work well for blankets or toy storage, especially one with a lid like mine.  Now I still need to figure out what to do with that tabletop, and I also want to build a stool to use at the dressing table. 

Don’t forget to check out these posts for more DIY inspiration. 

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• Erin from Practical Whimsy Designs spruced up and old side table.
• Sara-Lynn from The Inspired Decorator gave her childhood nightstand a fresh coat of paint.
• Martina from The Lived-in Look transformed a lamp into a beautiful glitter ombre lamp.
• Elizabeth from A Well Purpose Woman painted a mirror frame in antique white.
• Jaclyn from One Thousand Oaks made a farmhouse hoop wreath.

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I hope you enjoyed this month’s roundup of the Thrifty Thursday series.  As always, I would love to hear from you in the comments below!

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