Painting Skills & How Tos

You're going to want to pick up a paint brush after seeing this!

A couple hours' work of work can make a major impact.

I am giddy over my new pretty, pretty pantry shelves. Just days ago, they were a hodgepodge of mismatched boards and faux-wood stickers. It’s amazing what a little paint and the old switcharoo will do! When we started working on our new house, I was pleased to find a set of shelves in the pantry. They were nothing to write home about, but they would hold things and they were free and they were fine.

Stencils are a fun and economic way to create a pattern or duplicate an image over and over again. They can be used on a vast array of items from rugs, and garden containers, to walls and ceilings. You can purchase them pre-made, but if you’re looking for something one-of-a-kind your best bet is to make it yourself. There are quite a few options when it comes to picking out the material for your plate.

Gary and his wife inherited this piece and hated it. They wrote in to ask readers for advice on how two “unskilled and not creative” types could rehab this behemoth into something they’d be happy to have in their home. A contingent of readers liked it as it was, others said to sell it and many of you had suggestions for how to transform it with paint or stain. So, which readers did they listen to or did they forge their own path?

Not one to shy away from color (or DIYs), Chelsea took on the task of creating a striped wall in her office niche. Her take on a painted accent wall transformed an otherwise plain white wall into a statement that gives the whole space new dimension.Chelsea has made a few updates to her home since it was featured on Apartment Therapy. In this case she was able to incorporate pattern and color without using a whole lot of material.

Cream brick, neutral concrete, a white door — this little entryway was cute and welcoming, but it lacked a certain liveliness. With a little bit of turquoise paint, some new lighting, and more substantial hardware, this porch gained a generous dose of personality!Erin from In Between Laundry tackled this little exterior makeover to cheer up her front stoop; she shows how a few simple changes can make a big difference!

As part of my ongoing quest to add some color to my grey living room, I picked up one of these inexpensive tv tray tables at Target and decided to give it the before and after treatment. Yes, there is spray paint involved. And lamp finials. And rope. Intrigued? Click on through to see my nautically-inspired end result.The goal was to transform this $9 table from ‘college girl watching sitcom reruns and eating popcorn’ to something a little more yacht chic.

When Lee moved into his apartment rental, the kitchen was stark white and sterile. Check out what some color and black and white self adhesive floor tiles can do…With the help of a hair dryer, he removed the old, cracked vinyl tiles, and replaced them with Armstrong self adhesive floor tiles (cost $90). By positioning them at an angle, he created a diamond pattern that helps to distracts the eye from the railroad apartment’s “long & skinny” shape.

I’ve had this old quirky elephant lamp from Target for several years, and although I loved its silly charm, I felt like it was in need of an update. Using some fabric, and new shade, and some spray paint, I managed to change the look of my old friend.As for the shade, I used an old Urban Outfitters lampshade that I had from another lamp and covered it with sheets of brocade fabric. Read more about that process in this earlier post.

Here's how to do it right, whether you're working with oil, latex, or spray paint.

Here's the great reason why.

White kitchens have their place, but these might just be better.

It adds character and interest to your space, without all the effort.

This one is going nowhere.

Make your next paint job a breeze with these expert tips.

These furniture makeovers let natural wood have the spotlight.

You'll be itching to refinish your own dresser once you see these beauties.

These stunners will have you running to the paint store on the double.

Consider these drawbacks.

Murals are BACK, baby, and they're more stylish than ever.

Renovation by: Kristyn Location: Pittsburgh There was nothing WRONG with the kitchen when I purchased my first home except that it wasn’t me. It didn’t fit the 1920s Tudor Revival style of the house or my preferred bright, colorful, organic modern look. Although I don’t love bead board, there was no reason to replace the clean and sturdy cabinets. So I embraced it, adding more to the side and back of the island that separates kitchen from dining room.

My favorite Before & Afters are when talented people buy tired old houses and breathe new life into them. This 100-year-old house in the Phinney Ridge neighborhood of Seattle shows that a thoughtful approach to design can be modern and sustainable while still fitting in with the surrounding neighborhood.Todd Smith, of Syndicate Smith, along with his wife Julie bought their 1911 fixer-upper in 2004 and have recently completed an extensive exterior renovation.

When Andi, Dean and their building neighbors decided to re-paint the faded exterior of their Victorian home, it quickly became apparent that the process was not for amateurs. Located in the Alamo Square neighborhood of San Francisco, not far from the famous painted ladies, their building is over a century old.

Beautiful wood tones in no time.

If you’ve ever thought, “what was I thinking when I picked out that color?” while staring at your kitchen mixer, this DIY might just be for you. For around $10 you can repaint to freshen up or completely change the look of your mixer —a pretty sweet alternative to shelling out a few hundred bucks for a new machine!

Project by: June Location: Hertfordshire, UK Our hallway was dark and dull, looking grubby and tired.

Project by: Taylor Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Just days before my scheduled c-section, we were finally finishing our daughter’s nursery. We wanted a room with lots of contrast, personality and DIY touches. We also knew we were working with a small space and so we wanted our choices to be high-impact and make a smart use of our limited floor space.

Project by: Kelly Location: Athens, GA I recently became obsessed with this wallpaper pattern called “Cuben” made by Flavor Paper. I saw a photo online of how someone had used it in a kitchen. Unfortunately the wallpaper is a little out of my budget so I decided to attempt to recreate it in my own kitchen with paint. I measured my walls and plotted out the design on graph paper. I used a yard stick and a level to get all the lines penciled onto the wall.

Yesterday I showed you the “before” condition of this poor little table, which was used outside by its previous owner and left to rot and weather. Today I’m showing you how to paint faux marble to use as a replacement table top for any project you have in the works. This is a very easy technique that takes hardly any time or money to do. Round wooden top or decorators table Black paint White paint Sealer Regular paint brush Sea sponge Small feather 1.

You’d never know it, but this Mid-Century Modern credenza was once disguised in flat white paint. For twenty bucks, it was really hard to resist buying it and testing my skills at striping off paint. Learn how after the jump… 2 quarts paint stripper Mineral spirit Miniwax Wood Finish Stain (I used English Chestnut) Rags Rubber gloves Goggles Mouse Sander 150 grit mouse sander refill Paint brush Plastic putty knife Toothpick Screw driver Respirator 1.

Painted accent pieces can add charming touches for your home but can be less than charming if painted incorrectly. The process might not seem difficult at all- apply paint, dry, repeat- but if you want a clean, professional finish, there are a few more considerations and steps involved. When painting a really nice piece, you need to put in just as much effort in the prep and sanding stages as you do in the painting stages.

Don't know what to use with Classic Blue? Don't worry, we've got you.

Whether you want a little Classic Blue or a lot, these projects will help you stay on-trend for 2020.

It's a lot of bang for less than a Benjamin.

For those of us (hi, me) who like our chores to feel a little less chore-y.

It's like night and day... or day and night.

We put the Datacolor ColorReader to the test—here's our verdict.

Don't be scared of the dark side! We've got expert tricks on how to make deep hues work in your home.

If your home is due for a redesign, and you’re looking to go bold with a color combination that will pop, you could choose a classic pairing that you see everywhere—or you could opt for a wow-worthy and unexpected duo.

Curious to see what all the hype's about?

File the tip under “just because you see it on Pinterest doesn't mean it's a good idea.”

While painter's tape promises clean lines, it can come with issues. And, of course, there’s the time requirement: It takes forever to apply.

Paint is one of the easiest ways to transform your home. And while simply picking a new color and rolling it onto your walls will do the trick, sometimes you're looking for something a little more exciting. Thankfully, the 2020 IKEA catalog dropped this week, and it's full of great ideas for your next home project.

Our experts sketch out the 12 things you must know before you paint your house.

Apartment Therapy readers are an amazingly helpful and knowledgeable group – over the years, they have stepped up and provided answers to all sorts of questions about how to do things around the house better, where the best sources are and, of course, what color to paint the walls of your (fill in the blank).

You don’t need to be a D.I.Y. pro or color expert to know that picking a paint hue is easier said than done. With dozens of brands and ever-so-slightly nuanced shades to choose from, the whole process can be confusing, time-consuming, and headache-inducing. But even if you know all the questions to ask yourself when narrowing down your paint chips, you might forget to factor in the finish. Deciding between matte and gloss may seem like an afterthought, but in reality?

Years ago when I decided to paint the floors in my small summer house, most people were shocked (including my parents). Bare wood floors were so chic and such a staple of 90’s style, that painting them over and covering them up seemed sacrilegious. I didn’t think so anymore. See how they turned out… The floors were cheap, solid oak floors, in great need of refinishing.

Got a bathroom or kitchen with an outdated colour palette? That burnt umber and avocado green tiling not floating your boat in the kitchen or bathroom any longer? Tiling around kitchen backsplash, floor tiles non-sink countertops, fireplace tiles and wall tiles all can be repainted even if they have a shiny finish (continually and regularly wet tiling require an epoxy formula). You might want to consider repainting those eyesore tiles rather than replacing them.

Attention, all you renters out there: this is an easy, affordable, and ultra-stylish way to upgrade your dingy rental floors. We have been meaning to do something like this ourselves for quite some time, and seeing this project by Orlando Soria on Design*Sponge totally got us all jazzed up to copy her.

One of the easiest ways to live a green lifestyle is to simply buy only what you need. This is especially true when it comes to painting your spaces. Sure, it’s nice to have a small amount for touch-ups down the road, but that doesn’t mean you want rogue half gallons (or even whole!) sitting in your garage taking up space! Eliminate the waste and buy the correct amount to begin with. Here’s how:MaterialsToolsMeasuring TapeCalculator 1.

For some reason bedrooms seem to be left as the last room in the house to be decorated. I’ve seen it a lot in friend’s houses and House Tours. I am definitely guilty of neglecting my own bedroom, as you can see in this before photo. I am the first to admit — that room is hella ugly! But in two days I was able to take this room from a decorating disaster to delightful with a couple coats of paint (and some major purging).

Last spring, when my husband and I bought our first house, we hadn’t painted a full wall between the two of us. That changed within about two days of us getting our keys. We soon learned that the greenest (and most budget-friendly) trick in the book is to work with what you’ve got—so click through to see how our kitchen has progressed from dark and dated to light and lovely on a dime.

When I saw this little file box at a Salvation Army, it practically called to me from across the store. “Jason,” it called out to me, “please take me home and give me new life. I’m only five dollars!” How could I possibly pass it up?The original gray finish on the file box had definitely seen better days. Even after a thorough scrubbing, the finish was marred with years of tape and dings and scrapes. Nothing a little spray paint won’t fix!

This month on Apartment Therapy we’re looking at some of the biggest projects we take on when designing our homes, kitchen and bath renovations. Deciding on all the new features can be daunting, but sometimes the choice of a single element literally makes the project click, instantly transforming the space and practically guaranteeing the success of the makeover. That was the case with Rebecca’s kitchen…After!… when she decided to install a “thin brick” wall.

This brass chandelier may have a lot of life left in it but it’s definitely a bit dated. Of course, that’s nothing a little paint and patience won’t fix!Reviving an old, dated piece is always the greenest option versus replacing it altogether. So I’m delighted to see that Diane, over at In My Own Style, was able to modernize this dated brass chandelier.

When Alissa received this lamp as a hand-me-down from her grandparents, she loved the shape but not the dated brassy finish. Spray paint and a little imagination to the rescue!I see what Alissa means about the shape of this lamp — now that it’s painted! I admit that I was too distracted by the old brassy finish on the lamp to appreciate its finer qualities! Now that its been painted white I love it — especially that tall finial!

This before & after project is a great example of how a good imagination is often the key to a great makeover. Kind of makes me feel better about all that daydreaming I did during algebra class.This makeover was featured on Sunset, and I love that this plant stand wound up costing $3.19, the cost of the Rust-Oleum Painter’s Touch spray paint in Sun Yellow. If you needed to buy a pot, the project would cost a bit more, but still far less than a wrought iron planter.

BEFOREJenny had long wanted a chair to sit in as she gives her girls their baths, and with $4.50, paint, and elbow grease she transformed a sad seat and vanity into something that stylishly fit the bill. AFTERJenny of Little Green Notebook picked up the vanity for free from an auction house that wasn’t able to sell it in its beat-up condition. Jenny realized midway through that it wasn’t worth refinishing the wood, and she refreshed the vanity with her Dremel and a coat of paint.

Nicole picked up this dresser as part of a three-piece set. The other two pieces, matching nightstands, got their own makeovers but Nicole wanted to do something a little different with this dresser. Check out the results after the jump…As Nicole reports on her blog, Scrap Me Baby, the dresser was in great condition structurally so it really just came down to a matter of painting it. Giving this dresser the black-and-white treatment makes great use of the piece’s details!

Linda has a lovely home, outdoors and in, but her entryway was not feeling very welcoming. Besides being on the bland side, this entryway was also seriously deficient in functionality. Fortified with a whole lot of DIY ambition, Linda turned the entryway into a welcoming (and useful) space…As you can see in the ‘after’ photos, Linda went with a more dramatic palette for her entryway.

Molly sent us an email sharing her take on the ever popular with DIYers IKEA Rast dresser. She wrote: After searching for a campaign piece I could fit in my dining room and having unsatisfying results, I decided to redo the Ikea Rast dresser (like many before me!).I patched up the knob holes and painted the dresser, and drilled on these flat corners. Then I measured and drilled holes in the center of each drawers for the campaign style pulls from Ansaldi and Sons.

Many of us can relate to Gemma’s situation. She knew that, down the line, she’d be taking on a full (read:expensive) renovation. But she wanted to do something to make the kitchen a fun, fresh place to be in the meantime.

Jill picked up this old dresser for $25 with the intention of refinishing it as a gift to her brother. In order to match some of the other furnishings her brother already has, Jill decided to go dark with this blond dresser…After removing the old handles from the dresser and doing a little patching, Jill stained the dresser a bit darker. To further modernize the piece she replaced the old handles with new, shiny drawer pulls.

When Sausha first encountered this hutch she thought it was too far gone to be worth refinishing. It had been repainted more than ten times and was in need of a major sanding effort, among other things. But instead of trashing it, she took it as a challenge and made plans to repurpose and refinish the piece…Sausha chose to work with just the lower portion of the hutch and began by sanding it down to remove the build-up of paint.

When Connie found this coffee table at a thrift store, it was in pieces and the tabletop, meant to open to accommodate a leaf, was nailed shut. Though this bulky wooden piece had seen better days, it was clearly a sturdy table with a lot of life left in it — it just needed a little love and attention.Connie wanted to highlight the routed detail of the table so she used putty to fill in the split down the center to create a solid base.

As a frequent thrift and yard-sale shopper, I often come across brass or gold-colored objects. The shape and style might be perfect — like the classic set of heavy candlestick holders I recently scored for a couple of bucks — but the finish doesn’t match the rest of my decor. That’s why I love this simple lamp redo. It follows my thrifter’s motto: Spray paint to the rescue!

Imagine if you will, a room with some pretty bold stripes on a sloped ceiling and a standard IKEA bunk bed, both in cool shades. Some time later a big, bold, red carpet is added to the mix and suddenly it’s time for a makeover. Are you curious to see what they do with the stripes in the new and improved room?They kept them! Well, they kept the idea of them, they actually painted over them in hot hues that go with the new rug. And the IKEA bunk bed got a nice clean white wash.

Timothy and Laura are busy folks – they have a blog (make that two) to run and a new baby. A secret to their “do it all” success? They know that one key to handling new challenges is to plan ahead and do what you can when you have the time to make life easier when you no longer have the luxury of that time.

After Rachel had her new wood floors installed, it was clear she had a problem- her always darker than desired kitchen was now even more basement-like because her cabinets now matched the tone of her floor. Determined to create a lighter, brighter space without spending a lot of money, Rachel decided to use paint to transform her kitchen.Rachel used a Rustoleum Countertop Transformations Kit to transform her counters from dark grey to desert sand.

When Angie decided to move one of her boys into his own room, she knew she needed to find some unique pieces to help make the transformation. This retro dresser had seen better days, but the shape and the size were perfect for the space. Given her son’s love of all things orange, Angie decided to add a little pop of color to the frame of this piece.

Well hello there, ugly old dresser. You have some mighty fine bones but oooh boy are you a dated mess. Time to grab the paint and transform you into something more modern!The folks over at Young Nesters were in need of a sideboard for their dining room. After searching in vain for an affordable option, they spied this old dresser in a grandmother’s basement and, since it was free anyway, decided to try their hand at an ombre makeover.