A tester pot of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint can be used for small accent projects like painting small decorative items, testing colour combinations on a piece of furniture before committing to a full pot, or transforming flea market and vintage finds.

Here are five ideas for making a little pot of colourful joy go a long way.

Transform lamp bases

At Annie Sloan we believe in upcycling rather than buying new to save furniture from landfill. Old lamp bases are one a penny in vintage and thrift stores and they’re often beautifully made and will last much longer than cheap lamp bases you’ll find nowadays. Don’t worry about you’re your lamp base is made of – most materials can be painted with Chalk Paint, even plastic and glass – just look for a pleasing overall silhouette. If the lamp shade is an ugly fabric, that could be painted to give it a new lease of life too! Painting a lamp base in a bright contrasting colour is a quick, easy and fun way to add some oomph into your interior design. Use a bright complementary colour and introduce some visual zing to your room. Paint your lampshades with some simple shapes like squiggles or scallops and mix and match colour, pattern and material for a fun look.

Paint old frames

Finding old frames in junk shops and transforming them with Chalk Paint is one of the easiest and most satisfying ways to use a tester pot. Look for wide frames to give you plenty of surface area to paint on and let your imagination run free. You can paint old frames freehand with stripes, spots, geometric or abstract patterns, flowers or circles. Make your own pictures to frame using magazine cuttings, old photographs, vintage handkerchiefs or natural collections of leaves, shells, and feathers – anything that you find inspiring.

Add accents and patterns to furniture

Often what puts people off painting vintage furniture is the sheer size of the project. Don’t feel you have to paint the whole piece. If it is already painted, use a tester pot to add a line in a contrasting colour to highlight drawer fronts, mouldings or other details. Don’t worry about your lines being too straight – a slightly wobbly line gives a lovely hand painted organic feel to your painting. If your piece is made of good quality wood, just add some overlapping graphic shapes to add interest. You don’t need anything special to do this – just draw concentric circles using a saucepan line and fill in the shapes with paint. You’ll be surprised at how effective this can look, especially on mid-century pieces like dark wood sideboards.

Add highlights to your home

Look around your home and see where you might just add a touch of colour for maximum impact. Paint the insides of cupboards, the backs of bookshelves, inside alcoves, the edges of doorframes, around door handles – a flash of contrasting colour in the most unexpected place can often be the most effective. And the best thing is you can use leftover tester pots in your favourite colours.

 Painting chairs in different colours

A tester pot will cover one dining chair and it is really easy to transform tired looking chairs with a brightly coloured makeover. Mismatched chairs in different shapes and colours look effortlessly cool and will give your home an eclectic and unique look. There’s no need to sand your chair first, you can start painting straight away! Turn the chair upside down to make it easier to paint the legs. Don’t load your brush with too much paint or it will drip and keep turning the chair, so you don’t miss anything. I like to paint underneath the seat of the chair as I feel it gives a more finished look.