It’s almost magical how a fresh coat of paint can give an old piece of furniture new life, completely transforming the aesthetic in a room as a whole. Repainting furniture that has seen better days is also a great way to practice sustainability as you focus on repurposing what you already have in your possession. Wedding photographer Jennifer Hardin demonstrated exactly that when she revamped the office in her Victorian-style, Central New Jersey home while using “Wing It” — a barely-there, elegant pink that errs on the neutral side — to successfully answer the question: How do you paint laminate furniture? Read on for inspiration, tips, and so much more.

“Our office space was one I originally hadn’t planned on prioritizing,” Jennifer explained. “But after spending a season working in this space, I realized that it’s a room that we spend a lot of time in. I think it’s important to make the spaces you use often feel like home first, so we decided to focus on the office!”

The Office: A Before and After Transformation

Jennifer describes her office’s “before” as dark and bland with mismatched furniture and no character. “The ‘after’ feels so much more warm, inviting, inspiring, and organized,” she said. A standout piece that contributes to this new feeling is Jennifer’s laminate cubby, which underwent a complete makeover thanks to one of our favorite pink shades, “Wing It.”

Before

After

“This cubby was purely a functional piece to start,” Jennifer revealed. “It happens to fit perfectly in front of the barrier to the staircase, which could have potentially been kind of an awkward unused space … The laminate was a faux gray-ish wood color that just didn’t fit with our new office space the way it fit with the desks we had in our [former] apartment’s office.”

Choosing the Perfect Pink

Finding the perfect paint color was the most important part of transforming this laminate cubby. Jennifer chose “Wing It,” which makes the case for pink as a neutral (especially in natural light). “I knew I wanted to bring in a fun accent color for this piece of furniture!” Jennifer said. “I painted the interior of the office closet this same color, ‘Wing It,’ and felt this was a great way to tie that color back in and add a bit of a fun, feminine touch to the space!”

Before, Jennifer’s closet was a stark neutral storage room that required repairing peeling paint, installing new shelving, and repainting with a standout color. Now, the closet is more than just a functional area of the office — it brings the entire room together with a pink flair offered by “Wing It.”

In addition to “Wing It,” Jennifer also swatched three other paint colors on her laminate cubby: “Meet Cute,” a rosy blush pink; “Baby Soft,” a warm and sweet classic pink; and “Good as Gold,” a mellow mustard. Ultimately, she chose “Wing It” because it went perfectly with the color palette in her office, while providing a much-needed, but not over-the-top pop of color.

The Final Office Look

All it takes is some creativity and a fresh paint color to turn laminate furniture into a piece that is both functional and fashionable. Plus, it’s sustainable, too! “I always try to make use of the things I already have,” Jennifer said. “If I can give it a facelift and a new life, I love to be able to reuse rather than throwing away a perfectly good piece of furniture.”

Now that Jennifer’s laminate cubby has been painted, it completely balances out the space, creating a delicate pop of color to contrast the darker wood tones. “One of our area rugs has some floral elements with a little hint of pink, purple, and marigold colors. The pink ‘Wing It’ color on this cubby ties back to that subtle floral element,” explained Jennifer, describing “Wing It” as the perfect subtle pink shade. “The other furniture (our desks, wooden filing cabinet, and stool/plant stand) are all darker wood tones. This is the one painted piece of furniture, and I wanted to set it apart by giving it a fun color.”

This DIY goes to show how impactful a subtle, but still colorful, paint color can be. “Wing It” helped transform a piece of laminate furniture and, as a result, a space into a room that is welcoming, full of personality, and most importantly, fun to be in. All it takes is quick paint project and a beautifully balanced shade of pink.