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A collection of white paint projects

In my efforts to beautify my rental home, I’ve done a bunch of small white painting projects, but none of them really warranted their own post.

So you get a round-up today!

Two plant pots

This small one is from Goodwill, I think, and the original spray paint coat had chipped off pretty badly.

pot with peeling paint.

Maybe I didn’t use a primer? I’m not sure.

I also had two of these very worn plastic pots, which I think might be from Aldi, that I purchased years ago.

A mildewed plant pot.

I scrubbed them down, but they still looked terribly faded and stained. That’s a sign to paint. 😉

I had a stash of white spray paint at my house, and I grabbed it when I moved out (no one there would want it. I’m the most frequent painter in the family!).

So that made my color choice easy; might as well use what I have.

I was a little iffy about the idea of white outdoor pots, but I googled some images and it seemed like it might be ok.

I primed and painted these, curious to see how they’d turn out.

a plant pot in a yard.

Here are the bigger ones:

Two plant pots.

And here’s the little one.

white pot with a plant in it.

I’m pretty pleased!

Lisey’s bedroom furniture

Lisey’s bedroom at the other house was filled with furniture that I’d rehabbed; a freecycle dresser, a freecycle chest, and a twin bed that I’d bought on craigslist.

white headboard.

(That dates these projects for sure! Freecycle and craigslist are not the powerhouses they used to be back in the day! Now we’re all getting/giving stuff on Facebook groups instead.)

I picked it all up from the house and brought it over to the rental house. The bed in particular was pretty worn, so I gave it a fresh coat of paint and did the same for the little chest.

chipped headboard.

I’d done these items with Painter’s Touch paint, before Benjamin Moore Advance existed.

I now massively prefer that paint, but a) Advance is hard to get right now and b) it would be more work to start over with a new shade of white. So, I stuck with the Painter’s Touch.

A white bed with a stuffed fox sitting on it.

Good enough is good enough.

An old frame

I’ve had an old 8×10 frame since my kids were pretty little; I think it was either a freebie or a Goodwill find.

(Here’s the first time it appeared on my blog, 10 years ago.)

It was a little worse for the wear by this point, but I thought if I freshened it up, it might work to hang in my bathroom.

So, I spray-painted it.

watercolor painting in progress.

And then I asked Sonia to come over and help me make a little watercolor painting to put in the frame.

I’m not much of an artist, and I’ve never used watercolors before, so this is not a perfect painting (I see many things that could be better!), but it was very cheap art.

watercolor flowers.

And I can always try again.

framed wateroclor art on bathroom wall.

A trash can

Trash cans aren’t any fun to spend money on. B-O-R-I-N-G.

But I did need some for my rental.

Luckily, someone on my Buy Nothing group was getting rid of a bunch of small trash cans, so I picked them up.

small blue trash can.

I initially put this little blue one in my laundry room, but then I realized I should put one of the bigger, more oddly shaped trash cans in there. The laundry room is just an unfinished area; it doesn’t matter what the trash can looks like.

That left this one available for my bedroom. However, light blue did not match a single thing in that room.

Of course, I painted it.

At first, I used spray paint, but that white was a little too cool for my room. So then I used some of the Cloud White Benjamin Moore paint and just rolled it on.

a trash can in the middle of being painted.

I’d never tried it before, but it seemed to work just fine.

Shelf brackets

I got a tall bookshelf free from Facebook, for Sonia to use (it has a built-in light, so she can use it for plants!)

tall white bookshelf.

This is mid-project, which is why the white color is not consistent

I’m painting it (of course) and I realized the brown plastic shelf brackets were going to be eyesores once the bookshelf was white.

brown shelf brackets.

So I painted them and now they will blend in way better.

white shelf bracket.

And that’s it for now.

(Emphasis on “for now”. We all know I will be painting more things white in the future. 😉 )

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Tobi-Velicia

Sunday 7th of August 2022

Great job on all the painting! And your watercolor is lovely!

jigbean

Thursday 4th of August 2022

With regard to watercolours, I'd recommend checking out Andrea Nelson (@andrea.nelson.art) on instagram for lots of fun "kids" watercolour and other painting projects. I did a two-hour watercolours class last year (kind of by accident) and it was so much fun. But it has taken me until very recently, and watching a bunch of her videos, to actually start doing it myself at home. I may even frame and hang the first one of flowers I did. Even though it's not perfect and I can see a ton of things I'll do differently next time, it's good enough.

Kristen

Thursday 4th of August 2022

I think kid watercolor tutorials are probably RIGHT at my level. Ha.

Auntiali

Tuesday 2nd of August 2022

While I didn't paint anything I received two black lamps with white shades that I bought from Target online. I do believe it was one of the men on the original Queer Eye for the Straight Guy that said every room should have a touch of black. So now I have my black lamps and a black and white framed wedding photo of my son and lovely daughter in law hanging on the wall of family pictures.

Georgia Zanskas

Monday 1st of August 2022

Have a wonderful time in Wisconsin. I grew up in those north woods, and this is a great time of year to be there. !

Kristen

Monday 1st of August 2022

The weather here is SO nice! Sunny, warm, and the air is so dry. I love the low humidity!

MB in MN

Monday 1st of August 2022

Doh, I didn't realize outdoor plastic pots could be painted. I have a couple that I was going to slap a free sign on and place at the bottom of the driveway, but now I'm going to try my hand at painting first. You're an inspiration, as always!

Kristen

Monday 1st of August 2022

Yep! Spray paint does indeed stick to plastic. :)

Rose

Monday 1st of August 2022

@MB in MN, If you use the right spray paint, anything can be painted--even things like those children's plastic jungle gym toys and plastic outdoor cottages. Easy way to refresh them.

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