My mum is an avid upcycler, and during lockdown our house resembled something between B&Q and Homesense as she revamped sad looking wooden TV units and transformed gin bottles into vases.
And it’s easy to get the bug for the therapeutic passtime when the house is covered in paint brushes.
I found myself scouring charity shops and car boots for anything I could repaint, and I’ve had this shell shaped vase awaiting a revamp for quite a while now.
I paid 20p for it at a car boot, and thought it was very on-trend for the season. A sticker on the reverse suggested it was a sample for Primark that never reached the stores.
After seeing Stacey Solomon upcycle some charity shop glassware on her Instagram stories earlier this week, I was feeling more inspired than ever to get crafty with my pot of Frenchic paint.
Frenchic is one of the most popular paint brands amongst DIY fans, including celebrities like Stacey Solomon, Mrs Hinch and Olivia Bowen.
Sophie Hinchcliffe used their Al Fresco paint to transform a bookshelf, while Stacey Solomon raved about it’s ‘amazing coverage’ when she painted Rex’s room at Pickle Cottage.
Now, the furniture paint brand has launched a new range of shimmery paints that will totally overhaul tired homeware.
The £12.95 ‘Frenshimmer’ paint comes in five shades - Champagne Rosie, Golden Oldie, Teddy Mercury, Rusty O’Brien and Pearly Queen.
I thought that Pearly Queen would be the perfect shimmery shade to revamp my seashell vase.
The paint is said to be suitable for wooden furniture as well as laminate, glass, hard plastic, ceramics, concrete, metal (including powder-coated radiators), glass and fixed leather.
As it’s a pearlescent water-based paint, the first coat looked thin and transparent, but it soon built up an opacity after three or four coats.
Painting ceramics isn’t the easiest task, but the paint was still fairly easy to use, leaving a gorgeous lustre that glittered under the light.
It did apply to wooden surfaces much easier and smoother, but still gave a pretty effect on the vase.
I left my shell vase to dry for around one hour between coats, and after six coats of the Frenshimmer paint, I was happy with the silvery and shimmery finish.
This style of painted vase looks great filled with preserved flowers and placed on a side table, mantlepiece or shelf, which is exactly what I plan on doing with mine.
The paint can also be used to highlight details, carvings, mouldings and texture, and would look particularly gorgeous on iron gilding on antique furniture.
