From Broken Mini Blinds to a 50-Color Paint Swatch Display

Sometimes we have more time than money—and a little creativity can turn something headed for the trash into exactly what we need.

It started with a set of mini blinds that was more than 30 years old.

I tried to open them...and they basically fell to the floor.

Clearly, their days as window coverings were over. I was on my way to throw them away when that familiar little thought popped into my head:

I wonder if I could repurpose these somehow?

And then it hit me.

Paint swatches!

As a DIY Paint retailer, I'm always looking for good ways to help customers choose among the 50 beautiful clay-based colors of Debi's Design Diary DIY Paint. Printed color charts are helpful, but there's nothing quite like seeing—and touching—an actual painted sample.

And I just happened to have a whole pile of long, narrow mini-blind slats headed for the trash.

Maybe they weren't trash after all.

Taking Apart the Mini Blinds

If you've never taken apart a mini blind, I discovered that you can't simply pull the slats out from the end. The white string weaves in and out of the individual slats, so I cut the string in several places and pulled it out until I could separate everything.

And, of course, I saved that silky white cord.

I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to make with it yet—but surely its future purpose will reveal itself eventually. 😂

Once the blinds were dismantled, I wiped each slat clean and got ready to turn them into something completely different.

Making Real DIY Paint Samples

Before cutting the long slats into individual swatches, I painted two coats of DIY Paint on both the front and back of each slat.

I wanted these to be more than little chips showing approximately what a color looks like. I wanted my customers to see the actual paint.

I also wanted the swatches to demonstrate something that's difficult to show on a printed color chart: what happens to DIY Paint when it's sealed.

DIY clay-based paint has a beautiful matte finish in its raw state, but the color deepens somewhat when a finish is applied. So after the paint dried, I applied one coat of DIY Big Top liquid sealer to only the inner curved side of each slat.

That means a customer can pick up one swatch and compare the exact same color two ways: unsealed on one side and sealed with Big Top on the other.

Cutting 50 Colors Into Individual Swatches

After the painting and sealing were finished, it was time to turn those long mini-blind slats into individual samples.

I created a cardboard template so I could cut the pieces to a consistent size. Each long slat yielded 14 individual swatches.

Technically, I suppose I could have stopped with little painted rectangles.

But that's not really how I work. 😊

Each individual piece got its corners rounded, and I punched a hole into the end so it could hang neatly on the finished display.

Those might sound like insignificant details, but I think they make a tremendous difference.

Upcycling doesn't mean settling for “good enough.”

I love finding inexpensive—or free—materials to use in my projects, but if anything, I think the finishing details become even more important when you're working with humble materials.

Consistent sizing, rounded corners, neatly punched holes, individual labels and carefully planned spacing are what transformed pieces of a broken mini blind into something that looks like it was designed to be a paint swatch display.

Inexpensive doesn't have to look inexpensive.

Labeling All 50 DIY Paint Colors

Next came the labels.

I printed a label for each of the 50 DIY Paint colors and placed it on the sealed, inner-curved side of its swatch. That makes it easy to identify the color while also knowing which side has been finished with Big Top.

And with 50 colors involved, keeping everything organized became rather important!

I sorted the finished swatches into color groups before moving on to the next challenge: figuring out how to display them all.

The Display Started With Free Yard-Sale Wood

Here's where this project becomes even more of an upcycling adventure.

The boards I used to create the display came from a FREE box at a yard sale.

Broken 30+-year-old mini blinds and free yard-sale lumber.

Not exactly the beginning of a high-end retail fixture. 😂

But I could see what they could become.

I cut four boards to matching lengths, painted them with DIY Paint Little Black Dress, and sealed them with DIY Big Top.

The black background was intentional. With 50 different paint colors going onto this display, I didn't want the display itself competing with them. Against Little Black Dress, all those beautiful colors get to be the stars.

The Details Matter Here, Too

Next I needed to determine exactly where all those swatches—and their color names—would go.

Rather than eyeballing the placement, I created templates with my Cricut so the spacing would be consistent across all three swatch boards.

Each board has 17 hanging positions, for 51 total—enough room for all 50 DIY Paint colors.

The nail positions were carefully marked, as were the locations for the color names.

Would the display still have functioned if I had simply measured quickly and hammered in a bunch of nails?

Sure.

But after spending so much time creating the swatches, I wanted the display itself to have the same attention to detail.

The even spacing and consistent placement are small things individually, but together they're what give the finished display a polished, professional appearance.

Fall in Love With Color

The fourth board became the header for the display.

After painting and sealing it to match the other three boards, I used my Cricut to create the adhesive vinyl lettering and logos.

And the finishing touch seemed especially appropriate with 50 beautiful paint colors hanging below it:

Fall in love with color.

Finally, the boards were ready to head to my Crazy 4 Castors booth and take their place on the wall.

Was This Really an “Inexpensive” Project?

Here's the part of upcycling that I think we sometimes gloss over.

Was this an inexpensive project?

Absolutely.

Was it a quick project?

Absolutely not.

By the time I dismantled the blinds, cleaned the slats, painted two coats on both sides, applied Big Top, cut all the individual pieces, rounded every corner, punched every hole, created and applied the labels, prepared and painted the boards, worked out the spacing, installed the nails, added the color names, created the header and assembled everything, I estimate that I had about 60 hours invested in this display.

That's a substantial investment—just not necessarily a financial one.

Running a small creative business has taught me that our resources aren't limited to what's in our bank account.

Sometimes we have more money than time, and buying a ready-made solution makes perfect sense.

Other times, we have more time than money.

And sometimes we simply enjoy the challenge of looking at something no one else wants and imagining what it could become.

For this project, my biggest investment wasn't money.

It was time, creativity and attention to detail.

And the result gives my customers something I really wanted them to have: the opportunity to see and handle an actual sample of every DIY Paint color and compare how that color looks both unsealed and sealed with Big Top.

Beautiful Doesn't Have to Be Expensive

As a retailer and vendor-booth owner, I've spent a lot of time searching for creative display ideas—and I've been surprised by how few ideas I've found that work for a small retail booth on a small-business budget.

So I'm sharing this project not because I think everyone should spend 60 hours cutting up old mini blinds. 😂

I'm sharing it because I hope it encourages someone else to look at what they already have a little differently.

A broken mini blind. A piece of wood in a FREE box at a yard sale. Leftover materials from another project. Something sitting in the basement waiting for a purpose.

Creating a beautiful, professional space—or providing quality service to your customers—doesn't necessarily require spending a lot of money.

Sometimes it requires a little extra time.

Sometimes it requires attention to details that other people might skip.

And sometimes it begins when you're literally on your way to the trash and stop long enough to ask:

“I wonder if I could repurpose this somehow?”

I'm very glad I did.