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Thrifted to thrilling: Upcycling vases

08 Jan 2025

Give your old vases or op shop finds a fresh new look with this fun and creative DIY project. Upcycling vases is an easy way to add personality and charm to your home décor while embracing sustainable practices. With just a few Resene testpots, some basic tools and a bit of imagination, you can transform plain or tired vases into stunning statement pieces. Whether you’re drawn to bold patterns, abstract designs or subtle textures, this step-by-step guide will help you bring your unique vision to life.  And if you feel like a change later, you can always paint more coats on for a whole new look. 

You will need:  

  • Vase(s) 
  • Sandpaper 
  • ReseneWaterborne Sureseal 
  • Paintbrush 
  • Pencil 



Step 1: Start by sanding the vase(s) with a medium grit sandpaper. Wipe away the dust and prime with one coat of ReseneWaterborne Suresealpigmented sealer.   

Step 2: Apply a basecoat to your vases using your chosen Resene colours. Fleur used (left to right) Resene Rice Cake, Resene Half Parchment and Resene Dusty Road.  

Step 3: You can paint on any patterns you like to your vases in your chosen Resene colours. If you want to follow Fleurs designs, here’s what she did:  

For the black and white vase: Paint the basecoat in Resene Rice Cake then use a pencil to draw a grid pattern on (a laser level can be helpful for this). Use Resene Black to paint alternate squares to form a checkerboard pattern. 

For the face vase: Paint a base coat in Resene Half Parchment. Use Resene Teal Blue, Resene Aquamarine, Resene Red Red Red, Resene Sunglo and Resene Lemon Ginger to paint on an abstract face or crazy patterns. Have fun using a variety of colours and making different shapes and patterns. 

For the brown vase: Paint the base with two coats of Resene Dusty Road. Use a pencil to draw on straight, evenly spaced vertical lines (a laser level can be helpful for this). Paint the lines with Resene Rebel. Dip a bottle lid in some Resene Gold Dust paint and use this like a stamp to make circles on the vase. Paint these in with more Resene Gold Dust.   

If you want the vases to have a glossy finish, paint over them with one coat of Resene Concrete Clear gloss. 

Wall painted in Resene Element. 

project and images by Fleur Thorpe 

Published: 08 Jan 2025