Despite the incredible flexibility and utility of paint, we tend to be narrow in our appreciation of the stuff. Most of us think of paint as something that goes on our walls, our vehicles, and (maybe) the occasional piece of wooden furniture. Maybe you’ve considered painting wall tile or your tub. But paint is so powerful there are a lot of other ways you could be using it to beautify, refresh, and protect your stuff.
Here are at least 10 things you could be painting—and why you maybe should.
Upholstered furniture
If you’re tired of your upholstered furniture, you might think you need to either replace it entirely or reupholster it to get a fresh new look. But it might be a lot easier to paint it instead, and it’s really not that hard. Just about any upholstery can be painted using a fabric-specific paint, latex paint, or chalk paint, depending on the finish and effect you’re looking for. There’s really no trick to it—clean your upholstery thoroughly, tape off the parts you aren’t painting, dampen the fabric with water, then paint, using a sanding sponge to work the paint in if necessary. Boom: A brand-new look.
Window screens
There are a few reasons why you might want to paint the screens in your windows or storm doors. One, you watch this video and realize that painting a screen black can turn it almost invisible, which is a cool effect. Two, you realize that you can create incredible art on your window screens, turning a practical and kind of ugly part of your house into a source of beauty and creativity. Whether your goal is to hide your screens or draw the eye to them, paint is the answer.
Lampshades
Lampshades provide a much-needed service: They transform the harsh, bright light of a bare bulb into diffuse lighting that sets a mood. And you have more control over that mood than you think, because just about any lampshade can be painted to change the color, tone, and intensity of the light in your room. This project also pulls double design duty, because when the lamp is shut off the painted shade can still be a focal point.
Carpet and other flooring
One place many people don’t think of in terms of paint is the floor. But old wood floors, cheap vinyl flooring, or a carpet that needs a revamp can be easily touched up with paint.
Well, relatively easily. Painting a carpet successfully is all about prep work and working carefully. Carpet with a longer pile will be more challenging because it will absorb a lot of paint and it will be difficult to get the paint into the lower depths of the pile, which can result in exposing the original color every time you walk on it. If you use a spray paint, you’ll also find that overspraying is a real concern, so be very careful when taping off your patterns—you might even need to tape swatches of paper over the areas you’re not painting to avoid this problem. You’ll want to choose a fabric or upholstery paint for the project to ensure the carpet is pleasant to walk on after you’re done, too. But as long as you prep the carpet thoroughly and plan carefully, this isn’t a difficult project, and it can transform a dingy old rug into a vibrant piece of decor.
We often treat hardwood floors as an untouchable aspect of our homes, but if your wood floors are scratched, scuffed, and otherwise weathered a coat of durable porch paint will hide all those problems and offer an opportunity to completely change the look and feel of the room. Plus, painting your battered wood floors will extend their useful life, so this is ideal for an old floor you’re thinking about replacing in the near future.
Similarly, if you have old vinyl or linoleum flooring in your house that has seen better days (and has maybe lost its protective coating and become dull and uncleanable), you can de-gloss them and paint them for a startling transformation.
Curtains
Curtains can add a touch of elegance to a room while keeping nosy neighbors and sizzling sunlight outside where they belong. But if your curtains are a little dull, a bit of fabric paint (regular latex paint will do in a pinch) and some creativity will change everything. You don’t even need to make it terribly complicated: Create some stripes with painter’s tape and use a small foam roller to add vertical or horizontal stripes.
Appliances
If you’re stuck with basic white appliances in your kitchen or laundry room, why not paint them? Some sanding to get the shine off, a bit of primer, and the high-gloss paint of your choice can transform a cheap fridge or stove with a dazzling pop of color. Or consider using a chalkboard paint to turn your fridge into a message center and artistic flourish. Heck, you can even paint your cheap appliances to give them a stainless steel look. (This is also a possible solution if you have mismatched appliances, or an exhaust hood that doesn’t match the stove.)
Countertops
If your kitchen countertops are looking bedraggled (or were never particularly fancy to begin with) you can skip the thousands of dollars of investment and all the trouble associated with removing and replacing them by spending a few hours with a countertop paint kit or a can of material-appropriate paint (generally speaking, water-base acrylics will work fine on laminate, while an epoxy paint will do better on tile and stone). This is a straightforward project: Clean, sand, tape, prime, and paint. The results will depend a lot on how much time and care you put into the work, especially if you’re using a paint kit that will give your counters a natural stone look. But for just a few bucks you can have a whole new kitchen, especially if you combine this with some painted appliances. (And cabinets.) (And...floors?)
Radiators
If old radiators provide the heat in your house, you may have put some effort into hiding them using a variety of techniques. Instead, why not paint them? While you should test any existing paint on the radiator for lead before sanding and stripping, that’s the only obstacle to deal with—the rest is just prepping the radiator and choosing an appropriate high-heat metal paint. And just like that, an eyesore in your living room becomes a dramatic accent piece.
Fan blades
Ceiling fans are life-savers when it comes to stretching your heating and cooling dollars, but they can get a little boring (and dirty; so, so dirty). The blades on your fan are replaceable, of course—but that also means they are paintable, because you can remove them for easy work. Once you have them off the fan itself, you can either paint them a bold and dramatic color or stencil something cool on them. For extra points, why not paint a pattern that will do something cool when the fan runs?
Your roof
You probably don’t think about your roof when it’s not actively leaking, but painting a flat roof with a reflective or rubberized paint coating will extend its lifespan, reduce your cooling costs, and improve your roof’s leak resistance. This doesn’t mean grabbing whatever leftover paint you have in the garage and heading up there to slap on a coat—you need to do some research and choose a coating that works with your roofing material. But once you’ve done that, coating a roof is essentially like painting a floor, with the added excitement of mortal danger if you don’t take the proper safety precautions.
