I’m still spring cleaning and organizing the house, which for me, is actually a year-round job. I found a few things I had picked up at garage sales or thrift stores that really didn’t go with anything in our house or needed some repairs so I decided to try to make them look better with a couple of coats of spray paint. I didn’t even realize that spray paint came in different finishes these days! I picked up three cans for about $4.00 each at Home Depot.
Got this wicker basket for 50 cents at a garage sale….was in need of a paint job but I loved the size of it and it was in good shape, except for the paint.
After two coats of black gloss paint, the basket looks brand new.
I found these candle holders at Goodwill for 79 cents each. They actually still had the original stickers on them from Bed, Bath and Beyond marked $7.99. Once I got them home, I realized the finish didn’t really match anything so I stuck them in a cabinet and forgot about them until I started weeding through things. I used two coats of this brilliant silver metallic finish paint and look what a difference it made!
I bought this frame at arc for 29 cents. There’s actually nothing wrong with it as is, no chips or cracks, but I just wanted to see how spray paint would look on it.
After two coats of black spray paint it does look different but I didn’t like the way the finish looked. The paint didn’t totally cover all the wood grooves. If I had rubbed it a bit with sandpaper I think the paint would have adhered a lot better. BUT it only took about ten minutes to change the look and if you have a lot of frames that just don’t match your decor anymore, this would be a lot cheaper than buying all new frames….which can be expensive.
TOTALLY forgot to take a picture of this three-tiered plate holder….it had the same gold-tone finish that the candle holders had (above)….bought for $5.00 at Wal-Mart on clearance. I had stopped using it because I just didn’t like the way it looked with my other serving pieces….a couple of coats of silver paint later and it looks totally different and now it’s getting the use I originally bought it for.
Flower pots are so expensive! I like to grow my herbs and vegetables in pots so I can keep them on our decks where the deer can’t get to them. I found this at Goodwill for $1.00 and used it as is, even though the finish was chipped.
I sprayed it with an ivory gloss finish spray paint and now it looks brand new and I’ll be painting all the other chipped pots I own.
Bought this candle holder at a garage sale for 50 cents. I liked the size of it but the painted flowers just weren’t doing it for me.
One coat of my silver paint and now it looks great and goes with my other silver accent pieces.
I have tons of plastic pots in all sizes that my plants come in. I usually hold on to them after I’ve planted the plants that came in them because when we have company over in the summer, I usually dig up some of my mints (that I have to prune back so much because they grow like crazy) and send them home with guests.
I decided to see how well spray paint would cover them and it worked great! I’m throwing a baby shower this month and am planning on spray painting some of these “free” pots with blue paint (baby boy shower) and I’ll plant mint from my garden in these and use for decorations and then send one home with each guest. (I’ll be serving mint tea so it will totally tie in….).
So why not look at items you no longer use (or items you see at thrift stores or garage sales) and see beyond the color, chips or scratches….a couple of coats of spray paint can completely change-up the look or fix the flaws.