You've got a great set-up going in your apartment. An Eames Lounge Chair, a vintage couch and really cool prints that your artist friends have donated but you're still wondering how you're going to mask those miniature speakers.
How To: Mask the Other Eyesore in the Room – Speakers
Miniature speakers are great at being small but their dark hue sticks out like a bad IKEA rug. Our friends over at Camp Design Group came up with a pretty quick and easy solution--paint! Some items you'll want to pick up at the local hardware store are spray paint and a sponge brush.
First, you'll need to take the back off of your speaker. With a few simple twists of the wrist and a screwdriver, just take the speaker apart. When doing this, you'll remove the speaker housing so it remains paint free and still functioning when it's ready to be used.
Now comes the fun part--spray paint! Make sure you're in a well ventilated area (we're thinking outside). And to give your speaker ultimate shine and even texture, give it three light coats of spray paint with drying time in between. If your speaker doesn't dissassemble--no worries, you can still paint. Just use the sponge brush here and lightly dab the front part of the speaker (you can source the paint from a plastic plate or drop cloth where you can accumulate a small amount of paint from the spray can).
Be sure to let everything dry for at least 24 hours before assembling. Congrats--you've masked another eyesore in the apartment!
Related DIY Speaker Posts
- DIY: How to Make VERY Simple Speakers, Part I
- DIY: How to Make VERY Simple Speakers, Part II
- How to Make VERY Simple Speakers, Part III
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-Beth
Tags
DIY Project, speakers & headphones, DIY, spray paint, miniature speakers, painting speakersRelated Links
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Comments (6)
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first!
And this is good, but you would do better to use primer for the first coat of paint. Also- you might try sanding the speaker before that.
view maximumHOTbottom's profile
Does everything have to relate back to Eames chairs and Ikea furnishings? The whole AT group of sites is turning very one-note.
The painted look seems really cheesy to me. I think you're better off just buying speakers that match your decor.
view Orchid64's profile
I agree with Orchid. There are a number of companies that are making speakers that are beautiful. Rich woods or metal finishes are becoming the norm and the standard black box speaker is slowly disappearing.
Companies I tend to look at are KEF, NHT or Monitor Audio.
view techtoysforall's profile
Agree with techtoys and orchid...so many speaker options, including DIY speaker options that you all have featured, mean that this is pointless. Stop calling speakers eyesores! They can be gorgeous and incorporated into any decor. Surely there are better solutions than spraypaint.
Oh, and all those tiny speakers sound terrible. I don't care how much they cost or who manufactures them, there are mechanical limitations to tiny speakers that nothing can overcome, be it their sound or their looks.
view ervington's profile
NHT has always had great looking speakers. My Def Tech BP30s are huge but slim and I doubt there's anything in the world that could camoflauge them.
Fortunately, they're not entirely unattractive.
view Aloof's profile
I agree that this post seems a bit out of place on this blog. I thought this site was for people who appreciated fine design AND good technology. While I don't want to have my living room cluttered with speakers, I also wouldn't subject my ears to tinny micro-speakers that sound like crap.
There are better solutions than a can of spray paint (see Canton, B&W)...
view looksgood_soundsgood's profile