Spray Paint: My Best Friend, Your Best Friend

By Kate Riley May 6, 2009

For those of you who read my musings, you all know I have a deep and profound crush on spray paint.  I fondly refer to it as my BFF. 

I also have an addiction to the garden department at my local Lowes.  It’s about 5,000 square feet of botanical beauty.  Restraining myself, I picked up only two miniature rose trees to add some greenery to my garden kitchen window.  Then I was on my way to look at planters when it dawned on me: perhaps I don’t need a new cachepot if a little spray paint can satisfy.  Holding my breath and crossing my fingers, I dipped my toe into the shallow end of a line of spray paint I have never used before:  paint designed for plastic.  And it worked.

I turned a standard terra cotta colored plastic pot into a ceramic look planter, all with a little spray paint.  And now you can too. 

Before and After: 

tree before and after

My friends, I cannot begin to tell you how delighted I was with this product.  First, I applied the “soft white” colored paint from Rustoleum, then I hand painted the “taupe” color from Rustoleum in a stripe to the upper ridge and bottom of the plastic pot.  And the whole time I am thinking:  OMG, I am painting plastic – I must be crazy. 

paint

paint transformation

taupe stripe

Here’s a close up of the change:  

planter before and after

They’re so pretty in my kitchen window:

kitchen from side 

rose bush

Upgrade your planters too:

drab to fab

No one will ever know that my planters are plastic.  So let’s just keep this between you, me, and the blogosphere.  Mmm kay?

40 comments

  1. Great job! I’m amazed at how nice things look just by using spray paint.

    And I love your nice big window.

  2. I won’t tell a soul. Out of curiosity was the taupe paint also made especially for plastics? Or is that unnecessary since the whole pot was already covered in the spray paint?

  3. I love the plastic paint it is a $$$ saver! I am currently sing it to paint my home’s window shutters from dark green to black.

  4. Hi Yolanda, yes the taupe paint is also specially for plastic – it is made by Rustoleum.

  5. came over for Thrifty Decor Chick…if she likes ya I will love ya. And I do…thanks for the inspiration all over the place.

  6. found you on Thrifty decor…love the stuff you’ve done…I’ve already added you to my reader. What great ideas!

  7. I’m visiting via Thrifty Decor Chick – what an amazing transformation. I LOVE those roses in the kitchen – wish I had a window like that too.

  8. You’re so smart! I think we were destined to be spray paint buddies.

  9. Wow, you’re right, they look fabulous! No one would ever guess they are plastic. I ♥ spray paint too, I’ll have to try the plastic kind!

  10. What I love is that you never even had to take the tree OUT of the pot to paint it!! You have a cute kitchen…

  11. Hello,
    congratulations for your blog and your beautiful ideas.
    your reader, raja.

  12. So cute. What a beautiful kitchen window!

  13. I love it. I actually spray painted a plastic urn I found at home depot this past weekend. I am also a spray paint addict lol.

  14. I can’t find white planters anywhere, so I think I’m going to have to do this.

  15. Your blog is absolutely amazing! I love it here! Such cute ideas! Your cherry tree is my favorite post :-) although I loved your green bench, too!

  16. Love your window, love the mini rose plants, and love the great spray painting idea. I’m going to have to copy you, I fear, but I will definitely give you credit when the compliments start rolling in.

    jbhat

  17. I am absolutely loving your blog. Those pots look fantastic in you kitchen window. Spray paint is the most wonderful thing.

  18. You really are quite clever. That would NEVER have occurred to me to try.

  19. I am so envious of you for having such a gorgeous window over your sink. I have a window, but it’s not THAT window! ;) Looks beautiful with those pots!

  20. Wow those plants look beautiful in that window setting! I work for RO and came across your blog. Fabulous!! Thanks!

  21. Great job making those plastic planters look chic…….now I’m feeling the need to spray something.

  22. So, did you spray the “taupe” into the container and then paint it on by hand? Or was it regular paint?

  23. Oh my gosh, that picture of your kitchen makes me want to swoon…

  24. Those look great. I’m a big fan of spray paint, but now I’m definitely going to have to try to plastic spray paint.

    PS – Those flowers are DIVINE.

  25. I just ran across this old post this morning as I was “researching” painting techniques … and I’m curious – after almost a year – how is the painted plastic holding up? Does it still look good? Flaky?

  26. Hi! I just found your blog, and after reading some of your spray paint posts, I feel like you are my BFF too….cause we have a BFF in common…Spray Paint!
    I LOVE spray paint, too, and frankly I just don’t have the patience for other paints.
    I am your newest follower. Come stop by anytime…

  27. Hi there- I have a question related to spray paint. I spray painted a candlestick that was metal with white spray paint, however the paint texture is grainy not a smooth ceramic-y finish which is what I was going for! What did I do wrong?!?! Any tips?

  28. I can not believe!!! How much does that spray paint cost! obviously worth it. Anyway. that picture of your kitchen looks like it belongs in a friggin magazine!! SOOO beautiful :)

  29. I have some frames that are plastic I want to spray paint they were my Grandma`s so I do not want to destroy them, I have spray painted many metal things but not plastic so any tips.

  30. I came across this post today looking at furniture projects. I have never spray painted wood!
    However, I had several of those cat litter buckets that you can’t recycle and they are way too sturdy to toss. I used the type for plastic and spray painted some dark green to use for lawn chores and garage storage. I felt dumb to spend all that money for cat litter buckets but the paint is holding up great and they are indeed very useful.

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