Hello all! I hope you are enjoying the summer. It’s my favorite season for DIY and home decorating because I get to paint all kinds of things outdoors. You know, like spray paint lamps and glaze furniture in the garage. I realize there are lots of things we can paint and wanted to share some ideas with you today. If you are wondering how to makeover some of these items, stick around and see some of the projects I’ve done at Decor Adventures.
First up is fabric. Did you know you could paint fabric? All you have to do is add textile medium, found at most craft stores and off you go. Always put a plastic drop cloth under your project to prevent it from getting on the surface below. In the fall I decorate a lot of tables, so I make a table runner with some Shape Tape and gold metallic paint. See my Painted Table Runner.
Next up is laminate furniture. Often you see this type in thrift store and although it’s not real wood, that doesn’t mean it can’t get a makeover. Be sure to use special bonding primer after you lightly sand the piece and you can use any furniture paint like normal on laminate furniture. I painted this cabinet in a light gray color and turn it into a bar for our dining room. See my painted laminate cabinet here.
One item many of us have in our homes are builder-grade bathroom vanities. You know the ones. They come in common oak wood and are expensive to replace. You can paint these too! And in fewer steps than you think. I used lightly watered down chalk paint for the vanity in our upstairs bathroom and sealed it with two coats of polycrylic. Since chalk paint doesn’t need primer, you’ll save time making over a vanity. It held up very well and completely transformed the room. See my painted bathroom vanity here.
Speaking of furniture, lots of upholstered furniture comes with a wood “trim”. I picked up this mint colored chair and matching ottoman at a thrift store and gave it a facelift. I had it professionally cleaned and taped off the trim to give it a coat of white to lighten it up. Here is another example where you’ll use an oil based or bonding primer to make sure it will adhere to the glossy surface of the wood, but it can be painted over! See my painted chair and ottoman here.
And don’t forget any item you pick up off the shelves at a thrift store or at a garage sale can be spray painted. They make so many colors and types of paint these day so let your imagination be the limit! And if you have any painting questions, I’d love to answer them in the comments.
Come see my recent projects at Decor Adventures including our small backyard makeover and new master bathroom. You can find all of my projects here!
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Hi Julie I have a question about DIY Milk paint. I have a dressing table I want to look chipped, distressed, older than it’s antique self. I spent many hours in the 80’s removing 10 layers of all different coloured paints to get it back to the original wood, filled every hole, ding, scratch there was, then gave it probably 3 coats of satin finish varnish, now I want it all back the way it was, sortof, I think I am suffering an information overload regarding this paint can I paint straight over the varnish, no sanding, just a bit of a clean, and achieve the chipped, paint peel, cracked look? I know this paint is unpredictable but I want it to do it’s own thing, and what is the best form of colourant, powder or artist acrylic, sample pot of water based paint? I am also considering the outside wood work of the house (black)
I will relay your question to our paint expert…Jessica! We will be in touch!
Hi Jane,
Although I have not used milk paint myself, I have heard good things about it. If you want to apply it over the piece that you have varnished, you can do that, but you would need to use a bonding agent when applying the milk paint on to your piece.
I found some information here: http://www.dundean.com/tips_milk_paint_how_to_use.shtml and here: http://www.missmustardseedsmilkpaint.com/tutorial/
Hopefully those will help you. It does sound like the chippy finish milk paint will achieve is what you are looking for. Good luck!
Thanks for your help girls, it looks like I will have to find some more pieces to see how each application plays out. Cant wait, thanks again