I almost forgot about this quick and easy hack. A couple of years ago I bought the BARNSLIG RINGDANS mini chest of 4 drawers from IKEA. It’s in their kiddie section. I figured that I might have a use for the sturdy cardboard storage one day. And indeed, I do now. This is the original:
I then went and spray-painted the pale blue outer with some matte black I had left in a can. Warning: this method does not stand up to any abuse. Sitting nicely in a shelf is fine, but any rough-n-tumble and the paint chips off.
I then rummage around in Aladdin’s loft, remembering I had some cheap antiqued maps that were up on the walls of some of my previous abodes (those maps could be bought years ago at every historical place gift shop, I assume they are still sold there?) I used a London map, chopped it into four pieces, glued it on, and voilà!
Rather nice, even if I say so myself, and only a tuppence.