Paint a cubby shelf

Step one
The original cubby shelves had quite a lot of green paint on them already so needed a good sand to prepare the surface for painting. Sarah chose to use an electric sander for this because it was faster and could get through the paint more easily, but you could still use some rough grit sandpaper to do the job by hand.

Step two
Once sanded, dust off all the surfaces and apply a coat of Resene Quick Dry to prepare the surface for painting. You must wait for the primer to dry completely.

Step three
Apply two topcoats. Sarah chose Resene Lumbersider in Resene Quarter Spanish White to give these cubby shelves a fresh white finish.

Note
The shelves themselves were quite rustic and rough, so Sarah needed a nice low sheen paint that could provide good thorough coverage. If you were planning to store books or heavy items, you could use Resene Lustacryl semi-gloss waterborne enamel.

Step four
Once the paint is dry, you can add extra colour by painting the interior shelves in fun bright colours. Sarah painted the top shelf in Resene Suzie Q, and the bottom shelf in Resene Wheel Of Fortune. Two coats were needed.

Step five
For the interior back panels of the shelves hand paint black dots using a detail brush and a testpot of Resene Black paint. This can be tricky and requires a steady hand, so have a practice first! The dots won’t be perfect, but that adds to the charm of painting something yourself.

Step six
Once all your dots are dry, place your finished cubby shelves somewhere useful in the home and fill with trinkets, toys or photos, whatever you like! You can never have too much storage space.