So, I bumped into some designs online credited to someone named Miriam Steyer. Looked kinda neat, you know? Simple, but with a certain feel. It got me thinking I should try doing something similar myself, maybe spruce up some boring stuff I had lying around the house.
Getting Started with the Idea
I had these plain wooden boxes, just sitting there collecting dust. Thought I could paint some patterns on them, something inspired by that style I saw. Looked like a lot of geometric shapes, maybe some repeating elements. Seemed easy enough on the screen, right? Famous last words.
Here’s what I grabbed:
- Those cheap wooden boxes.
- Some basic acrylic paints I had – red, blue, yellow, white, black.
- A couple of brushes, nothing fancy.
- Masking tape – figured this might help get straight lines.
The Actual Trying Part
Okay, so painting directly onto the wood? Harder than it looks. My hand wasn’t steady enough for those clean lines I saw in the inspiration pics. Everything came out wobbly. Tried using the masking tape to section off areas. That worked a bit better for straight edges, but the paint sometimes bled underneath. Made a bit of a mess, honestly.
Spent an afternoon just fiddling with one box. Tried drawing a pattern first with a pencil, then painting over it. Still looked kinda sloppy. The paint consistency was tricky too – too thick, it left brush strokes; too thin, it looked washed out or bled everywhere. Got pretty frustrated at one point, almost just painted the whole box solid blue and called it a day.
Then I remembered I had some old craft stencils somewhere. Dug those out. Found a simple triangle one. Okay, maybe this felt like cheating, but taping the stencil down and dabbing the paint on gave a much cleaner shape. So, I ended up using a mix – some freehand bits that looked deliberately rough (or so I told myself), and some stenciled shapes.
How It Turned Out
In the end, I got two boxes decorated. Do they look like professional designer pieces? Absolutely not. They look very… homemade. You can see the imperfections, the slightly uneven lines, places where the paint isn’t perfect. But, you know what? They’re not bad. They have character, I guess. Better than plain boxes.
It was just a small weekend project, nothing major. But it definitely reminded me that seeing something cool online and actually making it are two very different things. Takes skill and patience, even for stuff that looks simple. Gave me a bit more appreciation for people who do that design stuff properly. The boxes are on my shelf now, holding random bits and bobs. A bit wonky, but mine.
