Five Things You Didn’t Know You Could Paint

Hello all! It’s my favorite season for DIY and home decorating because I get to paint all kinds of things outdoors. And basically take over the garage and make it into my furniture repair and paint department.  I realized there are lots of things you can paint and wanted to share some ideas with you

Here are five things you didn’t know you could paint.

There’s actually more than five on this list! Here’s goes.

Laminate Furniture

Often you see laminate furniture in thrift stores and although it’s not real wood, that doesn’t mean it can’t get a makeover. Be sure to use a 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.

Builder-grade Bathroom Vanities

You know the ones, those generic cabinets made into a vanity. They come in common wood types and although they look inexpensive, they 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.

Upholstered Furniture

Some 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.

Posters

This is one you probably didn’t think of either. Recently I made over a piece of “art” that I picked up off the curb. I seem to be collecting these thin metal frames, I like them a lot, and this one’s insides needed a boost. So I tried cutting vinyl on my Silhouette and it worked.

The art got a personalized update and I love it. If you don’t have a cutting machine, try out some masking tape or painter’s tape and don’t be afraid to paint paper. See how to paint a poster here.

Fabric

Did you know you could paint fabric? All you have to do is add textile medium, which is 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 shaped painters tape and gold metallic paint. See my Painted Table Runner.

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.

Holiday Decorations

Although I love green for the holidays, sometimes I want a different color in my decorations. I had the idea to paint these wreaths to hang indoors and they came out great!

All you have to do is cover up any lights with cut up straws and you can change any wreath, garland, or even a tree to a different color.

See my Bronze Spray painted Wreaths here.

Curtains

With an old house, I’ve had to make a lot of my own window treatments because I could never find curtains long enough in the stores.

I loved painting a stencil on these white curtains I sewed together (with extra insulation). I used a large stencil and gold paint, but you can pretty much paint anything onto fabric. They even have fabric paint too.

See my stencil painted curtains here.

Have you tried to paint any of these things?