Tag Archives: painting

DIY painted vases in stripes and polka dots - amerrymom.com

Add flair to flower arrangements with DIY painted vases

Flower arrangements always add a lovely touch to a room. I love to decorate with a beautiful bouquet of fresh flowers, like the roses I received recently.

To make sure I always have a vase handy for flowers, I stocked up with a few simple, inexpensive glass vases from a dollar store.  Although the flowers are the focus, I decided to paint the vases to add to the beauty of my flower arrangements.

These DIY painted vases are a fun way to display beautiful flowers!

DIY painted vases from amerrymom.comThe best part is that they are so simple to make!

Polka-dot vase

For one vase, I added silver sparkle in a polka-dot pattern.  The effect is easy to create with some circular yard-sale price stickers that remove easily.  I attached the stickers in a random pattern around the vase, then used two layers of silver craft paint.  DIY painted polka dot vase - in progress - amerrymom.comThe first layer was a metallic silver acrylic paint (Plaid Folk Art) that I applied with a paint sponge.  I tried using a paint brush first, but it left brush marks on the glass so I switched.  The sponge left a pattern as well; I decided it looked better than the brush marks.

The second layer was a silver glitter paint (Deco Art Glamour Dust) for some extra bling.  I removed the stickers before the paint dried so they wouldn’t pull off the paint.

It turned out lovely!DIY polka dot vase - amerrymom.com

Striped vase

For the second vase, I decided to try spray painting.  I attached blue painter’s tape in a vertical pattern, then sprayed with Krylon gold metallic paint in a few light layers.

DIY spray painted stiped vase in process - amerrymom.comI removed the tape before the paint dried so it wouldn’t pull off the paint.

Through this process, I realized I’m not super steady with the spray paint.   The stripes on my finished vase weren’t as perfect as I would have liked, but it still turned out nice!

Peonies in DIY striped painted vase - amerrymom.comThese vases are perfect to display the peonies from my flower garden that I brought inside to enjoy!

DIY painted vases are also a great way to add a thoughtful touch to a gift bouquet for any occasion.  At this time of the year, a hand-painted vase makes a nice hostess gift or teacher gift.  Starting with a dollar store vase, it’s a low cost project with big impact!

This project is linked to some of these link parties.

DIY bathroom cabinet painting

Contemplating a cabinet painting project?  I’ve learned that this is a surprisingly easy DIY task!

I recently painted my kids’ bathroom cabinet as part of my long-standing bathroom makeover project.  I’m so happy it’s done – and that it went so well!

DIY bathroom cabinet painting - an easy makeover projectThe kids’ bathroom needed an update when we moved into our house, but I put off this project for years until I couldn’t take the wallpaper any longer.

Even in this small room, removing the wallpaper was a big project, as everyone knows who has ever done this.  After stripping it off, I carefully cleaned glue off walls and patched up gouges to prep for a beautiful shade of light blue paint (Behr Premium Plus in Fresh Day).

With that huge step completed, I took a little break from the makeover – and by that, I mean a two-year break!  In the meantime, the vanity was looking worse from the wear it got from three little people using it daily and dripping water down the front regularly.  This summer I realized they’re big enough to keep the water in the sink where it belongs, so I should probably commence the cabinet makeover. 

In theory, it sounded easy enough to paint a little cabinet.  But since I had never painted any built-in cabinets, I felt anxious about tackling it.  What if I did something wrong and ruined the whole thing?  We inherited two layers of flooring in there, with the top layer of tile cut around the vanity, so I knew there wouldn’t be an easy fix to just put in a new cabinet if I totally ruined it somehow.

After doing some research, I finally got to work on my cabinet painting project one day while the kids were at school.

I removed the drawers, doors, and hinges and started sanding to prepare the surface for the paint.  My first surprise was that although the front of the cabinet is wood, the side is laminate.  Whoops!  I should have paid closer attention to the side.  I guess it was a good laminate match since I never noticed that it wasn’t real wood – or else I’m just really unobservant.

That discovery did make my painting prep work easier.  I sanded the surface of the front cabinet, doors, and drawers until they were smooth and then used a tack cloth to remove the dust.  For the laminate side, I cleaned it well and used wood filler to cover the holes where the toilet paper holder had been attached since I was replacing and moving it.

I wondered how well the cabinet would take the paint – especially the laminate side.  I used a high quality paint brush for good coverage and a self-priming paint.  Luckily the paint (Behr Premium Plus semi-gloss enamel) covered all of the cabinet well.  It took four coats, but the end result looks great!

(Note – I realized later that I should have used a separate primer over the previous stain on the cabinet, as noted on the Behr paint web site.  So I would recommend that step for cabinets that were previously stained.  However, my painted cabinet still looks good after many months, even without the primer.)

My second surprise was that the new hinges I had purchased were inset hinges, and I needed overlay hinges.  I hadn’t even realized there were two types – I just grabbed the first cabinet hinges I found at the store.  Be sure to check which type you need for your own project.  I was bummed to have to put the old hinges back on until I could get to the store again for the right kind.

My third surprise was that the screws that came with the new toilet paper holder I wanted to attach to the side of the vanity were long enough to hit the drawer.  So I had to leave that off until I could get shorter screws.

Ultimately, the painting project was a great success, and everyone was amazed at the huge difference it made in freshening up the room.  I wish I would have done it sooner!

I found that cabinet painting is a surprisingly simple DIY task.  And believe me – if I could do it, anyone can!

A cheerful, easy DIY front door makeover

What to do when your front door is looking tired and uninviting?  A simple DIY front door makeover is the perfect solution!  You can achieve a great update for just a few bucks!

Easy DIY yellow front door makeover - before and after - AMerryMom.comWhen I quit my job to become a stay-at-home mom, one of the first projects I planned to tackle was updating our front door so it would be more inviting.  The door had seen better days, and it definitely did not present the warm welcome I wanted.  But I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on our front door since we just went down to only one income.

Instead of buying a new door, I decided to revamp our existing door, which appears to be original to our nearly 50-year-old house.  I completed this quick and easy DIY front door makeover for less than $30 to cover the cost of paint and some wood.  It was the perfect solution on a budget!

I was so excited to finally update this door!  I had tried to fix the paint before, but it already had several layers on it and didn’t touch up well.  It needed to be sanded down and completely repainted.  I also wanted to modernize the look by covering the circle design.

Easy DIY for a great front door makeover

To get started on my front door makeover, I cut some bead board paneling to cover the circles.  I love the look of bead board!  Cutting these square panels was the biggest challenge in my DIY front door makeover, since I’m terrified of using any type of electric saw.  (I’m a bit of a klutz, so it may be less of an irrational fear than you might think.)

Since I’m not a regular woodworker, I use a simple miter box for most of my little wood projects.  I just used that saw to cut the three bead board squares I needed.  Yes, it took me longer to cut them this way than with an electric tool, but I came out unscathed, so I call it a win.

I got some pieces of wood lattice and cut them with my trusty miter box to use as trim around the bead board.  I debated whether to use nails or adhesive to attach the bead board and trim to the existing front door, and finally decided to use nails.  Wood filler and paint covered the nail holes pretty well.

A yellow front door makeover exudes cheery curb appeal

What goes perfectly with a front door makeover?  A bright and cheery paint color to welcome guests!

For the paint, I picked a bright, vibrant yellow to coordinate with the house’s red bricks and light yellow trim.  I used Olympic Golden Glow paint in self-priming semi-gloss.  Since I only needed a quart of paint, it was a very inexpensive way to make a huge impact! DIY yellow front door makeover for under $30 with paint and trim - AMerryMom.com

I love my new yellow front door!  There’s definitely no missing our house now.  We can tell new visitors that we’re the house with the bright yellow front door!

I wanted something cheerful and welcoming to brighten up the front of the house.  I think this front door makeover does it!

My easy DIY front door makeover was just in time for my new fall wreath.  I love the look of the colors together!

This project is linked up at some of these link parties.