Turning old into new: jazz up picture frames with new paint

Guest article by DIY / interior design blogger Evi Jaschke / mrsgreenhouse.de

How do I find the perfect color palette for my home? Which colors go with my favorite color and how do I best combine several color shades? These things can be challenging, but now, with ColorReader EZ, you have a very practical tool that can help you find the right colors in no time at all.

Color harmony for your home

Once you’ve found a color palette you love, you’ll feel much more comfortable in your own home, since everyone responds to colors differently. While some people love rather strong colors, others may prefer hues that are more soft and subtle. Additionally, it’s important for all colors to coordinate with each other, regardless of the size of your project.

Finding the right color palette is especially important in creative projects – for example like in my upcycling project with old picture frames. They were much too good to dispose of! At the same time, I had beautiful pictures hiding in the closet for some time, just waiting to finally get their well-deserved place in our living room. Of course, I could have simply painted the picture frames in black or white, but how boring would that be?!

That’s where the ColorReader EZ comes into play. I used it to help me determine the colors in the picture, so I could match them with the color of our soon-to-be-painted picture frames. This way, I transformed our living room wall into a unique, personal and above all coordinated picture gallery. I can already envision my next project, doing the same thing with our vacation pictures. Here’s how you can showcase your favorite photos and create an exciting picture gallery in your own home.

Image 1 –These are the pictures I planned on turning into a coordinated picture gallery for my living room, with picture frames painted in matching colors.

Upcycling picture frames, using ColorReader EZ:

ColorReader EZ is a very small and handy device that connects easily to your smartphone via the ColorReader app. Its compact size makes it easy to carry the device in your handbag or pocket, so you have it at your fingertips any time you find color inspiration – at home or on the go.

Once your ColorReader device is connected to the app, you can start scanning. The device accurately measures your scanned color by simply placing it on the flat, even surface of the color you want to scan and pressing the button. Your results are displayed on your phone.

BILD 2 –ColorReader EZ measures your scanned color and instantly displays its three closest color matches from top paint brands.

By tapping onto the “Coordinate colors” tab, you can also see which colors coordinate with each other. How neat is it to have your own personal color consultant at your fingertips?

BILD 3 – Within the app, ColorReader EZ shows me which colors coordinate with my scanned color.

Additionally within the app, you’ll find the corresponding color fan decks of the respective paint manufacturers. The selection of RAL color shades is also available.

These watercolor paintings have quite a lot of different colors and shades that are pretty close to one another, so I used my ColorReader EZ on several places until I found the exact hue I was after.

Your scanned colors can be easily saved, making it easy to refer back to them at any time. The color fan decks available in the app also show variations of the color, which was very handy for my project, since I liked the dark green tone in the painting, but felt it was too intense for the picture frame. I was able to quickly find a lighter shade of the same color that turned out to be a perfect match!

With the color selected and saved, all I had to do was go to my local hardware store and have the paint mixed.

BILD 4 – The paint color mixed at my hardware store turned out to be a perfect match with the darker green in the painting of the leaf.

I absolutely love the light green in combination with the darker green! I am thrilled!

Without ColorReader EZ, I would never have been able to select such a beautiful color, because perfect color coordination requires knowledge of the exact shade.

Now all that’s left to do is for me to select which of my beautiful pictures make it onto my living room wall.

I finally decided on two different colors, focusing on the light shade of green. One of the picture frames received a two-colored paint treatment for this purpose. To recreate this yourself, first paint the frame with the lighter of the two colors and let it dry. Then mask the center with masking tape and paint the other half of the frame with the second color.

ADVICE: If you are unsure on how the arrangement should look like on the wall, simply lay out the pictures on the floor beforehand. This gives you a good overview and you can still move your pictures around quite easily.

It turned out that the green of my picture frames even matched my favorite pillow perfectly, which is something I hadn’t thought of before – it was as if ColorReader EZ had known… Maybe some other accessories will end up being painted in this beautiful shade of green, too!

BILD 5 – My upcycling project is done and I am very happy with the results.

ColorReader EZ is simply a very handy, little device and I am very happy to have such a color helper in my house from now on. At the same time, the device helps me in my creative work and I’m sure, with many future DIY projects.

I am very happy that these old picture frames were given a new purpose with this upcycling project and didn’t end up in the garbage.

DIY blogger Evi Jaschke lives in Hamburg, Germany, and focuses her blog ideas on her garden, kitchen and craft room. Upcycling is especially close to her heart and whether it’s made of paper, fabric, wood or concrete, she likes to incorporate elements from nature.

Earlier in her career, Evi worked as an interior stylist and decor consultant. She loves to create things from existing materials, share ideas with people and – most of all – to inspire others. Upcycling projects are especially fun for Evi, who wants to show her readers that making something yourself shouldn’t be expensive or overly complicated.