11 Weird Things I’ve Spray Painted that Completely Transformed our Home

Spray paint is kind of an unsung hero of home projects. It isn’t trendy like chalk paint and other furniture paints. Designers don’t talk about their favorite spray paint colors. It isn’t new and exciting.

But there are so many things you can completely transform with a quick coat of spray paint.

The other day I was looking through some of the projects I’ve done over the years and I realized that a lot of my most impactful DIYs started with a simple can of spray paint. And while some of them are pretty typical home DIYs, a lot of them are not things you’d normally think to paint. But even though they may be a bit weird or unusual, the end results turned out fantastic!

I love spray paint. It’s one of the easiest and fastest ways to transform all kinds of things around your house.

Spray paint comes in a million colors. It’s pretty cheap, it adheres well to all kinds of materials, and it’s easy to apply to all kinds of curved and twisty surfaces that it would take hours to paint with a paint brush. And best of all, it is so crazy fast to apply; it only takes a few minutes to paint pretty much anything with spray paint.

Today I’m sharing my top spray paint projects along with some tips for knowing what things you should and shouldn’t spray paint, and the best spray paints to use.

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What things can you spray paint?

You can spray paint just about anything, but spray paint works better for some things than others.

• Spray paint works great on metal, wood, plastic, and glass. If you’re painting something slick like plastic or glass, be sure to use a separate spray primer first to help your paint stick better.
• Spray paint works well for indoor and outdoor projects.
• Spray paint works well on surfaces with lots of curves, twists, and details. It isn’t great on large, flat surfaces like tabletops. When you spray paint a large surface, you’re a lot more likely to get flashing, which gives your painted surface a striped effect when the light hits it.
• Spray paint isn’t the best choice for most wooden furniture. Because it can look uneven on large flat surfaces, it doesn’t give the best finish for furniture.
• Spray paint isn’t the best choice for extremely high-touch surfaces like doorknobs and faucets. Because they are touched so frequently, the paint isn’t as likely to hold up well over time.

What’s the best spray paint?

The main two contenders are Krylon and Rustoleum. I’ve used both brands quite a lot and honestly, haven’t found a big difference between the two. There are some specialty spray paints where one may stand out more than others, but for general spray painting projects, just choose the one that’s most convenient for you to buy and has the color you want!

Is a paint sprayer the same thing as spray paint?

Before we get into all the great spray paint projects, let’s make sure we’re on the same page.

Spray paint and paint sprayers do a lot of the same things. They both apply paint by spraying, so they’re both great for painting things super fast and particularly for painting anything with lots of curves and texture.

The main difference is spray paint comes preloaded with specific paint while a paint sprayer can be used with any type of paint. That means you could use a paint sprayer on all kinds of things that you would never want to spray paint including walls, cabinets, and even the exterior of your house.

I love my paint sprayer, but clearly not everyone has a paint sprayer or feels confident painting with one. Luckily, all the projects in this post was painted using good old cans of spray paint from the hardware store.

Check out this post for more details on the simple paint sprayer I use along with tips for using it.

My Top Spray Paint Home Projects

Aluminum windows

Our 1970s ranch still had its original windows. I know everyone talks about how great replacement windows are, but these aluminum windows had storm windows and screens and they were actually incredibly energy efficient. However, they didn’t look amazing.

I updated the most noticeable windows on our porch with spray primer and paint and it made a huge difference. The color change from aluminum to white may not look like much in photos, but the clean white paint just really made the whole space look so much fresher.

Sliding glass doors

Along with our aluminum windows, we also had a couple sets of big sliding glass doors with aluminum frames. The doors were awesome for accessing our porch and letting in lots of light, but again, they looked pretty dated.

A few coats of spray paint really helped freshen them up. I painted the inside of the doors first and then a few years later painted the outsides.

And yes, for those wondering, the painted doors and windows held up really well over time. I have a full update post sharing the details of how they held up along with a bunch of other popular projects.

Shower door

After my success painting my sliding glass doors, I set my sights on my shiny gold glass shower door. The door worked perfectly fine but the super shiny gold color wasn’t great.

I spray painted the door black and it made a huge difference. I only ended up using this door for about three years before water damage led to a full gut renovation of that bathroom. But over those three years, the paint held up extremely well with only 1 or 2 super tiny paint chips.

Light Fixtures

You can completely update an old light fixture with a few coats of spray paint. Sometimes all you need is a fresh color to transform a light and sometimes the paint is the first step in a bigger upcycle. I’m a big fan of keeping the ‘bones’ of a light fixture and switching out the decorative elements for a new look.

I gave this dated glass chandelier a super simple makeover with a thrifted lampshade and some fresh paint.

And when I updated this old lantern fixture, I didn’t even take it down from the ceiling to spray paint it!

Fireplace doors

Did you know they make special high heat spray paint? A lot of people use it to refresh grills, but I used it on our shiny brass fireplace doors. I actually updated this fireplace two different times and both times I painted the fireplace surround.

First, it went from brick and brass to all white.

But while the white was nice, it made the fireplace fade into the background rather than standing out. So a few years later I painted the brick blue, painted the fireplace doors black, and built a DIY mantel.

That update really turned this fireplace into a focal point! It’s one of the things I miss the most about that house.

Lamps

Is it just me or are most lamps absurdly expensive? I’m a huge fan of shopping for lamps at thrift stores to help keep costs down. It’s pretty easy to find great secondhand lamps with a beautiful shape but a lot of times the finish is pretty dated.

I love using spray paint to update old lamps because it handles all the curves quickly and also sticks well to almost any surface including metal and plastic.

Curtain rods

Curtain rods are super easy to update with spray paint. I used black spray paint to update these cheap DIY curtain rods I made with simple supplies from the hardware store.

The curtain rods are made using inexpensive electrical conduit which has a very industrial look, but with a coat of paint you would never know they were a cheap DIY.

Picture Frames

One of my favorite tricks for making a gallery wall look cohesive is to use matching frames. A lot of my picture frames have been gathered over the years or thrifted so I tend to have a random assortment of colors. A few coats of spray paint can quickly pull them all together.

Wooden chairs

I don’t normally spray paint wooden furniture with one exception: wooden chairs.

Wooden dining chairs, kitchen chairs, and rocking chairs are a huge pain to paint using a brush or roller. Painting all the legs and slats and twists and turns takes forever so using spray paint or a paint sprayer saves a LOT of time. Usually I don’t like to use cans of spray paint on wooden furniture because it’s very difficult to get large flat surfaces like table tops to look perfectly even. But since chairs don’t have many large flat surfaces, that really isn’t a problem!

Want more info on spray painting furniture? This post has a step-by-step tutorial along with info on when you should and shouldn’t use spray paint on furniture.

Wicker Furniture

If you have old wicker or rattan furniture that could use a fresh coat of paint, spray paint is definitely the best way to go. Getting into all those nooks and crannies with a brush is almost impossible, but spray paint can reach all the surfaces easily.

Outdoor cushions

And finally, I had to include this outdoor fabric spray paint. I haven’t done a huge project with this one yet – I’ve only tested this paint on one cushion. But I wanted to mention it here because it worked so well and the potential here is huge. This paint has great coverage, adhered well, and didn’t leave my pillow crunchy. The next time I have outdoor cushions that need an update, I will definitely be reaching for this paint.

Along with the things on this list, I’ve also used spray paint to transform lots of other things including mirrors, bookends, metal furniture, furniture hardware, and all kinds of knick-knacks. And every time it is just so satisfying!

Want more painting tricks? Check out my favorite painting hacks next!