Easy Spray Paint Projects for your Next DIY Project

If you have a Pinterest account, you have probably seen tons of project where people take furniture, paint it and fill their homes with beautiful, unique pieces. I am obsessed with these makeovers and have always wanted to do something like that for my home. But I never knew where to start or what pieces to buy to start. Well, I recently just jumped in and completed two easy spray paint projects for my home. Keep reading for an easy way to start up cycling furniture today.

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What to pick to spray paint

Picking what item to paint was the hardest part for me. I would see people on Pinterest finding pieces on the side of the road or an antique store. It looked effortless to find amazing pieces. I have never just seen an old piece of furniture and knew how to paint it. (I wish I did!). But here is where I started and where you can start: your own home. You probably have something in your home that you don’t like the aesthetics of, but it serves a purpose, and it works, so you keep it. But what if you could change the color easily?

Here are some ideas to start with:

Old picture frames. Make an old frame pop in a new bright color or maybe paint all the frame in a room a new matching color.
Handles. Maybe you have a piece of furniture that could benefit from a new color handle.
Ugly plastic draws. We all have those generic, boring plastic draws somewhere in our house. Keep reading for more on this.
Outdoor furniture. I have several plastic pieces of furniture that do not match, it would look great if these old pieces were cleaned and spray painted to match.

I started with items I already had in my home that needed a pop of color and I am very excited with the results.

Ugly Plastic Draws

Here is a picture of the ugly plastic draws I have in my home:

I actually have a few different ugly plastic draws from a time when we stayed with family when we were in-between selling a home and purchasing new one- and all of our furniture was in storage. We have continued to use these plastic draws because they have always found a purpose (despite being boring).

I wanted to use this one in my son’s room. My son is turning 5 and I wanted to make his room less baby and more big boy. He needed a place for his big boy toys that he keeps in his room. This plastic draws would have served that purpose- but I realized this was the perfect project to spray paint.

I took the draws out of the plastic frame, which is easy to do. I cleaned all of the pieces with a towel and water. After the pieces dried I decided to just spray pain the frame. I thought the pop of color would be fun, without being too overwhelming for the room.

I went with a bold blue because it is going in a little boys room.

I am thrilled with how it turned out. I was able to reuse something in my house and make it better.

You have to pick the right spray paint. The spray paint I used can adhere to plastic. You also need to think about the finish you would like- matte, glossy, glitter, or hammered texture for example. I used a glossy finish here.

Here is the spray paint I purchased for this project:

This spray paint worked great. The deep color covered everything in one application and dried to touch in 20 minutes (just as it advertised). I was so excited to work on the project that I had to remind myself to go slow and take breaks to step back and look at the project. When working up close, you may not see areas that were not applied evenly. taking a step back occasionally really helps to make sure you have even application.

Display Wall

My daughter just turned two and I wanted to update her room to look less like a nursery. I also wanted to display her dance clothes that have been sitting in the dining room waiting for her to start dance class in the fall. The solution- a display wall.

I took hooks and hangers I already had and spray painted with gold hammered finish spray paint. Here is the before:

I used some cardboard to work on outside for this project.

And here is the after:

I love this display wall because it can change with my daughter. If she wants to hang different outfits or jewelry or an art project- she can!

My daughters room had a tv and a tv stand from when she was a baby. I loved having a tv in her room when I was nursing but it had not been turned on in close to a year! I originally planned to take the tv stand out of her room after I removed the tv, but I added some bins and now it is a perfect toy chest. There are so many cute toy chests online, and I thought about purchasing, but I really like how adding the bins made the tv stand into something else.

Here is the spray paint I purchased for this project:

You can buy hooks in different colors- but I really like the look with the hooks and the hangers matching. You may have hooks already in you house that can you use. I used white Command hooks for this project. A variety pack like this one below is a set of hooks you will get a lot of use out of:

The four key tips for easy spray paint projects:

Pick the right spray paint for the project. Consider the material you are spray painting and what finish (like glossy, matte or hammered).
Clean the item (make sure no dust is on the item) and let it dry before painting.
Spray paint slowly and evenly. Don’t rush! It is exciting to see the item you are painting changes so quickly before your eyes but slow, even application will help make your project turn out even better.
Take breaks when painting and take a step back from your project as you work. Taking a step back will help you see what areas need spray paint and/or a second coat.