25 DIY Paint Projects That You Can Complete to Redecorate Your Entire Home
Add a pop of color to furniture, picture frames, decorative accessories, living room walls, and so much more.
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Opening a fresh can of paint has endless potential for creativity. After all, a painted design is one of the easiest ways to breathe new life into an old set of dishes, a flea-market mirror, or even a glass-fronted cabinet. Taking on a painting project is a great way to make do-it-yourself improvements around the house and it could include something you already own. Whether it's a shabby bookcase in need of a coat of paint, adding a personalized touch to a simple plaque, or updating kitchen cabinets and chairs, there's always plenty of things to paint around the house.
It's worth choosing the right paint for your project. Furniture and household decor can be given a weathered antique look with chalk paint in matte finish. Acrylic craft paint, of course, can be used on practically any kind of surface including fanciful patterns on the bottom of serving trays and glassware. Ceramic and glass paint can be used on tableware, adding texture and visual interest. Fabric paint should, naturally, be applied to tablecloths, napkins, throw pillows, and clothes. Consider technique, too: Acrylic pouring and splatter painting both create a one-of-a-kind marbleized and polka-dotted effect, respectively. Stenciling will always result in a crisp, clean look to the most intricate of designs.
Ahead, all of our most creative ideas for DIY paint projects. Try one (or more!) and see for yourself just how transformative they can be. Best of all, if you don't like the end result, it's easy to scrape away the dried paint, and begin anew.
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Painted Wood Barrister Bookcase
As a stylish reader, here's an easy way to make the books on your shelf pop: Painting the exterior of your bookcase in one hue where these types of items are displayed and the interior another color will completely transform the way you see your favorite novelties.
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Spray-Painted Metal Lamp
Whether you scored a great flea market find or inherited one, an antique lamp can be updated on its exterior with a spritz of paint.
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Painted Ceramics
When painting ceramics, you have the ability to go all out with color or opt for a minimal splatter of paint.
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Painted Brick Fireplace
If you're looking to give your living room a quick upgrade, a project you can easily do yourself is paint right over the brick. After washing the fireplace of ash and soot, coat the brick in the right primer and white wash.
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Painted Wicker Sofa
Wicker is having a major moment in home décor. Whether you found a well-loved wicker sofa at a tag sale or already own one, breathe new life into this classic using a paint sprayer to coat your piece in an even layer of paint.
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Painted Glass Vase
Arranging a vignette of painted glass vases at various heights creates visual dimension and interest in any living space.
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Painted Cabinets
Want to update your kitchen without the demolition? Opting to paint your kitchen fixtures as well as cabinets can result in a whole new look.
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Splatter Painting
Here's a fun idea for updating your linens, table cloths, and kitchen towels: Take inspiration from abstract expressionist Jackson Pollock and splatter paint directly on fabrics. Before you know it, all of your linens will become your canvas.
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Ombré Painting
Why settle for one paint color for your walls? Instead, opt for an eye-catching ombré effect to blend more than one.
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Chalkboard Painting
Writing with chalk doesn't have to be old-fashioned tradition of your school years; today, chalkboard paint has multiple ways to use it. On a wall, you'll always have a place to write, wipe clean, and create anew.
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Hand-Painted Tile Backsplash
Painting tile backsplashes isn't anything new, but adding your own freehanded designs is a motif unique to your own.
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Office Supplies
Put your signature stamp on plain desk supplies. You can adorn a linen-covered notebook and accentuate the spines of plastic magazine files with skinny, leafy sprigs, fashioning fitting storage for gardening journals.
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Painted Bed Frame
Looking to refresh your bedroom? Start with your bed—or, more specifically, its frame. While a new quilt adds color and texture, painting your bed frame can bring the room's overall palette together.
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Painted Flower Tray
Instantly renew a plain bamboo tray with a new coat of color. Our editors are always inspired by flowers and the decoupaged dried petals complement this pastel pink hue.
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Painted Frames
A mixed collection of frames always seem to be on hand. Brush off the dust, and modernize yours with leftover paint from old house projects.
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Painted Step Stool
If little Johnny needs a leg-up to the sink for hand-washing and teeth-brushing, here's a trick: Have them help you transform a wood apple box into a colorful (and cool) painted step stool.
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Chalk-Painted Monogram Plaque
At the front door, swap your seasonal wreath for something that's personalized. Opting for a simple yet elegant monogram in matte-finish chalk paint completes this task.
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Painted Furniture
A bedside table, nightstand, or larger armoire that's starting to look weathered can be touched up with some distressed paint and stenciled designs.
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Painted Drop-Off Shelf
When it comes to home design, the entryway often gets short shrift, yet it's the first thing you see when you come home. Why not make it more welcoming—and functional? Simply paint a landing-strip shelf a shade you love, then mount it to the wall. With a level and a pencil, draw a line above (30 inches works well) and parallel to the shelf. Next, draw vertical lines up from each shelf end to form a rectangle. Fill it in with the same-color paint.
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Painted Kitchenware
Colorful, kitschy, and eclectic kitchenware, flower pots, jars, and other home décor oddities are always trending. Easily update what you own at home with these etching, stenciling, and glass painting ideas.
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Painted Coasters
The beauty in these blank leather coasters is in the mix-and-match possibilities. Use masking tape to create stripes, splattered spots, and geometric shapes. This brings out the playful side of inexpensive leather coasters.
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Batik-Stenciled Headboard
Lay your head to rest beneath a headboard that you personalized yourself. This Batik pattern's intricate design is printed across copies and coated in paint one at a time, stenciling as you go.
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Painted Tablecloth and Napkins
Amish "Evening Star" quilts are made with a geometric pattern of 12 triangles surrounding a square. This pattern inspired the graphic print on these linens, which will look sharp when presented at the table.
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Block-Print Painting
This technique only needs household supplies. Think creatively: berry baskets, kitchen spatulas, dowels, and more items all can be repurposed into makeshift stencils for linens like those on the clothesline pictured here.
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Acrylic Pour Painting
If you're an artist at heart, try your hand at acrylic painting. The abstract effect reflects the fluidity of movement on the canvas and the painter's pour.