Don't like it? Paint it!
I bought a ghastly orangey pine wall shelf unit on Ebay for the princely sum of £3. I did not buy it for it's colour, but the fact that it has unusual detail cut into each side. This made it distinctive, and in my book indicated potential.
First I sanded it back to the bare wood, to make this faster I dug out the old power tools, detail sander went down a treat into awkward corners.
Next, I primed it, using wood primer and thumb twiddled while it dried.
Then, after 2 coats of eggshell paint, in this case a very pale powdery purple, I had an unrecognisable shelf unit, that is a fantastic addition to my daughters room, it looks like I forked out a fortune for her to display her treasured trinkets. If you like the shabby chic look you'd use some sandpaper to gently scuff the paint here and there and give it a slightly used look, this is most convincing on edges. You could also stencil your own design on for a truly customised, country look.
And the beauty of it is, once you have these materials, they go pretty far so you can re-vamp till your hearts content.
You will need:
Sand paper/sander.
Wood primer
Eggshell paint
