Pretty Painterly DIY Projects

About Pretty Painterly DIY Projects Android App

Beautiful things can happen when you combine water and paint with home decor. Bring bland accessories to life with these simple DIY projects featuring painterly patterns.

Pretty-in-Pink Chair

To make this vibrant office chair, cut out your choice of fabric in the shape of the chair—don't worry about being too precise just yet.

If you've opted for plain fabric, achieve a watercolor appearance by watering down fabric paint to your desired shade. If you're using more than one color, keep separate brushes for each color or have a cup of water handy for rinsing your brush. Apply the watered-down paint to your fabric and let dry.

Watercolor Wall Treatment

You only need two pretty blue hues to make this ombre wall treatment reminiscent of the ocean. Add a small amount of water to both of your blues and start applying the darker shade from the bottom of your wall with broad, sweeping motions. As you move up the wall, add more water to your colors to achieve an ombre look. Apply and blend the lighter color as desired.

Plain-to-Purple Tablecloth

We recommend fabric paint for this painterly DIY project. Tablecloths often get dirty, and this paint is permanent no matter how many times you run it through the wash. Dampen a cotton tablecloth and secure it on a clothesline. Dilute purple and pink fabric paints to your desired shades in two separate buckets. With a large paintbrush and a small amount of paint, start applying the darkest shade on your tablecloth. You can blend as you work and add more paint to brighten your shades.

Pretty Place Settings

Create these standout dishes using just nail polish and water. Fill a plastic container with water and drizzle a vibrant nail polish color into the water in a zigzag pattern for best results. Quickly dip your dishes into the mixture before it hardens, and be sure to dip only the parts that won't touch food. Hand-wash these DIY dishes—they're not dishwasher-safe. To dress up your napkins, spritz each cloth with water and apply diluted fabric paint using a thin paintbrush.

Primrose Pillows

Spritz a cotton pillow cover until damp, grab your watercolors, and go to work. Watercolors will naturally bleed as they soak into the fabric, giving the same faded, soft look they have on paper. Let the paint dry and spray with a color fixative to prevent fading.

Brushstroke Pillow Pattern

Create soft stripes on a pillowcase for pretty painterly throw pillows. First lay down strips of painters tape to cover the areas you want to stay blank. Use watered-down fabric paint or watercolors to create stripes. Because the design isn't as delicate as the previous flower pattern, feel free to use a bigger brush and broader strokes. Let dry—and if you opted for watercolors, don't forget to spray with a color fixative.